Love is Strange
by xXxStarGazerxXx
Summary: Teresa Lisbon is the new Bachelorette. AU Jane and Lisbon have not met yet. Red John is dead. I know others have tried this and stopped midway, I hope to stick it out to the end. Most of it is already written. My first Fic. K plus for mild language, like what they use on the show.
1. Chapter 1

**Ok, here goes nothing! This is the first fic I have ever posted on any website ever. I have never had the drive to write any of my fanfiction down before this. **

**When going back through The Mentalist archives, I came across two fics based around the Bachelor/ Bachelorette tv shows. Both of them had been abandoned. This made me very sad, and I didn't even watch the Bachelor or the Bachelorette (I do now... I wanted this fic to be at least sort of accurate in format).**

**So here is my attempt. I hope you enjoy it. It's not the greatest, but I could not for the life of me get the idea out of my head. When I go to the point where I had most of it planned out, I thought, what the heck? Why not?**

**I do not own The Mentalist (or the Bachelorette for that matter). You may notice throughout the story that there are bits from the show thrown in here and there, please note that I did use dialogue from the show, and I did not write those. **

Teresa looked at the clock at the side of her bed. It read 4:30 am. She groaned, then rolled out of bed, giving up on sleeping at all.

Today was a big day after all.

Today was the day she was going to meet 25 guys at a big house in an undisclosed location in California. From these 25 guys, hopefully she would find a husband. _A husband ._ Holy crap.

She could not believe Grace talked her into this. Did she really need a gameshow in order to find the man of her dreams? How many of these gameshow romances have _actually_ worked out? Teresa had been second guessing her decision all night.

_Too late to back out now_, she thought. _Besides, what's the worst that can happen?_ She'd go through the 13 weeks and come back unengaged. Who says she needs a man anyway?

She had filmed all of the introduction stuff about a week ago. At the same time she had met Chris. She had to admit, that was helpful. At least now she knew someone.

"_Hey, Teresa! I'm Chris Harrison."_

"_Nice to meet you, Chris. Come in." Teresa stepped aside to let Chis into her house. Chris was followed by a small camera crew. _

"_So where are we going to be?" Chris asked as he looked around her apartment. _

"_The couch is fine."_

_The members of the crew then got to work adding extra lighting and testing both Chris's and Teresa's microphones. When everything was satisfactory, Chris and Teresa sat down on the couch, facing each other._

"_So, Teresa, what are you hoping to find here on the Bachelorette?"_

_Teresa burst out laughing. Chris looked confused._

_After calming down a little bit, Teresa said, "I really am not sure. True love? I don't know." _

"_True love is good." Chris nodded. "What else?"_

_Teresa shook her head and closed her eyes. "Umm…" _What am I looking for? _She thought._

"_I guess I'm looking for someone who understands me. Someone who understands how much I love my job." Teresa paused to think again._

"_That's great, Teresa."_

_Teresa smiled. "I want someone who won't be offended if my job keeps me away but is happy to see me when a case is over. I'm looking for my best friend. I really hope I find someone like that through this experience, but…" She stalled._

_Luckily Chris knew what she was trying to say. "You're afraid that none of the guys we found will live up to your expectations." Teresa nodded shyly in response._

Teresa got into the shower and then got dressed in her street clothes. She was meeting her team at their favorite breakfast place at 8. She checked her clock again. 5:30. She sighed and walked down the stairs. Maybe she'd watch that episode of Castle she missed.

Teresa looked at herself in the mirror. She was wearing an emerald green floor-length dress that had a slit up the left side to her mid-thigh. Her hair had been curled with a large barrel curling iron by Grace, who had also helped her with her make-up.

She and Grace had become very close over the last year, especially since the network had gotten back to Teresa and told her they wanted her to be the next Bachelorette.

Grace looked at Teresa over her shoulder in the mirror. "You look amazing, Lisbon." Teresa rolled her eyes. Grace still was unable to call her Teresa, though she supposed the use of her surname was better than "boss".

"Thanks, Grace. For everything. I don't know what I would have done without you here, I'm no good at this girly stuff."

Grace smiled at the compliment, but said nothing. Teresa walked back to her bedroom to double check that she had everything packed. After going through the list for a third time, Grace stopped her.

"Boss, you have everything. It's going to be great."

"And you know that, how?"

Grace sighed. "Oh, come on, Lisbon. Who knows, maybe your perfect man is going to be in that group of 25 guys. You gotta at least give it a shot."

Just then the doorbell rang. Grace helped Teresa carry her luggage to the stretch hummer limo she was being picked up in.

"Hello, Teresa! How are you feeling?" Chris asked as he helped load the suitcases into the trunk.

"I'm alright." Teresa replied. "A little nervous."

"That's perfectly normal."

"I would be a little concerned if it wasn't."

Chris laughed. "Well, let's it the road, shall we?"

"Ok." Teresa turned to give one last hug to Grace, telling her to call if anything serious comes up. She gave Chris a smile before stepping past him into the limo.

**Ok! First Chapter, what do you think?**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey! Thanks for the feedback! I now understand why authors love reviews!**

**Here is the second chapter. Sorry it's a little short. It basically just introduces all of the bachelors.**

**I still do not own either of these shows.**

Teresa dropped her stuff off on her room before heading back out to meet Chris. The limos would be arriving in about ten minutes.

After a short sit-down with Chris, again talking about what she was looking for (true love, understanding, best friend), she stood outside the house, waiting for the first limo to drive up.

When it did, Teresa closed her eyes and took a deep breath._Here goes nothing!_

The first thing Teresa noticed about the first guy to step out of the limo was the massive smile on his face. Teresa let herself relax a little.

"Hey!" He said as he reached her. "I'm Brandon."

"Hi Brandon, I'm Teresa." She held out her hand for him to shake, but Brandon bypassed it completely and pulled her into a hug. _I guess I will have to get used to this,_ she thought.

Brandon was the owner of a small but successful candy business in Branson. He seemed really nice, not to mention good looking. He had short blonde hair, blue eyes, a muscular body that she felt when he hugged her, and stood at about 5'8".

Next was Boyd, a youth pastor from Colorado Springs. Boyd was attractive (Short brown hair spiked in the front, brown eyes, gorgeous smile) and a real gentleman.

Johnny was a football coach from Topeka.

Marty ("Badger") was the owner of a fitness center in Baltimore.

Joe was an accountant from Phoenix.

Andres owned a restaurant in Indianapolis.

Kevin caught her attention. He was a tall, blonde, professional lacrosse player from Fargo with a goofy smile.

Jack was also entertaining. He was tall with short, curly, ginger hair. His laugh was awesome. He was a sound director for a Cirque du Soleil show in Vegas.

Jake was a business manager from Austin.

Sean was a marketing professor from Washington D.C.

Bill was an acting coach from Minneapolis. He wasn't extremely attractive, but he had a cute smile and his glasses looked really good on him. He seemed like a very genuine guy.

Josh was a (extremely tall!) college basketball coach from Virginia.

Tony was the marketing director for a business in Jacksonville, Florida.

Korben was a pilot for the Air Force.

The next person to really get her attention was Patrick. When Patrick stepped out of the car her eyes widened a bit. He was drop-dead gorgeous. He had curly blonde hair, bright blue eyes, and a killer smile.

"Hi." She said nervously.

"Hi, I'm Patrick." He gave her one of his amazing smiles before lifting her hand to his lips in order to kiss the back of it.

"I'm Teresa," Teresa said. She tried desperately not to blush. "It's nice to meet you, Patrick. What do you do?"

"I'm a consultant for the San Francisco Police Department."

This really got her attention. "Oh, really? I used to work there. What do you do? Why did they bring you on as a consultant?"

"I close cases." He said simply.

"How?"

"I'm a mentalist."

"Meaning?"

Patrick just gave a little shrug.

Teresa could tell she was not going to get the answer she was looking for standing outside the mansion, so she said, "ok, then, I will talk to you inside."

"Looking forward to it!" Patrick smiled again before making his way into the house.

Aaron was a software developer from Cleveland.

Tim was an athletic trainer from L.A.

Will was a back-up singer from Nashville.

Kyle was interesting. He was tall with brown hair lightly gelled into little spikes at the top of his head and had a goatee. He was previously Special Forces for the Army. Presently he was a career firefighter.

Alex was a professional ukulele player from Hawaii. She didn't even know those existed.

Matt was a High School shop teacher and track coach from Ogallala, Nebraska.

Zach was hot. Zach was about as tall as Brandon. He looked like he was of Native American decent with some European and Mexican mixed in. He had dark eyes and dark hair. She could feel how strong he was when he hugged her and wondered momentarily what he looked like shirtless. He was a wrestling coach and Admissions Director at a college in Indiana.

Ben was a big goofball. He was a DJ for a radio station in Georgia.

Abe was a sweetie. He ran a dog shelter in Portland.

Last but not least was Jordan, a charismatic cruise ship singer with medium-brown skin and dark eyes and a low, sexy voice.

He sang her a few bars of Sinatra before he headed inside. He was _really_ good.

Chris rejoined her as she watched Jordan disappear into the house.

"Not bad, right?" He said.

Teresa shook her head. "Not bad at all."

"Ok, well I'm going to go in and let them know you will be joining them."

"Alright."

**Next chapter coming soon!**


	3. Chapter 3

**This chapter actually has some of Patrick's point of view! Yay! You will notice at one point I use some lines from the show. The whole story does that. I'm not sure why I decided to do that but, whatever. **

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed and added this story to their alerts. That was very nice of you!**

**Anyway, here is chapter 3!**

**I still own nothing.**

Patrick looked around the room at the men who would be trying to win Teresa's heart. Most of them seemed like nice guys at first glance, but he could hardly believe that a cop would be interested in a DJ or a Ukulele player.

He guessed that they would be among the ones going home the first night.

What he gathered from Teresa during their brief meeting was that she was smart. She'd have to be to do her job, and he could hardly believe she would ever want to commit to someone less intelligent then her. Cops like challenges.

Chris came in and announced that Teresa was coming, and when the brunette entered the room the men who had been sitting stood (well, except Badger and Mr. Ukelele. Patrick shook his head at this. They had no idea how to impress women) and they all welcomed her.

Patrick thought she was attractive. Any man who didn't had to be blind. The dress she was wearing was stunning and really made her green eyes stand out.

He couldn't help notice how uncomfortable she looked in it, though. He figured she must not dress up much. Her heels seemed to be bothering her as well.

Before all the men, including himself, could greet her again, Aaron had already dragged her off into another room. _Oh well,_ he thought, _she'll be back._

Teresa had talked to 10 men so far. She had no idea how she would make it through another 15. She knew she was defiantly sending home Aaron, who had not spoken to her about anything except how beautiful she looked and how he hoped she would give him a chance (did he mention how beautiful she was?), as well as Joe, who was very sweet but also extremely quiet and seemed almost afraid of her. She was also pretty sure she would send Ben home too. He was funny and animated, but he also didn't know when to shut up.

She did have some really nice conversations with a few of them though. Boyd was really sweet and intelligent, and Korben was so funny she fought to keep the water she was drinking from coming up through her nose.

Teresa realized she needed a break from talking for a minute, so she slipped around the corner into a smaller room off the main room. She motioned for the camera crew to stay back for a minute.

"Needed a break?" Teresa jumped and turned around. Patrick was standing there holding a tea cup in one hand and a glass of water in the other. The camera crew had followed him.

Teresa put her hand on her chest as she tried to get her breathing even again. "Don't do that!"

"Sorry, should have knocked." He handed her the water which she took and downed in one go.

"Thanks," she gasped when she finished, handing the glass back to him. "So."

Patrick tilted his head to the side. "So."

"What's a Mentalist?"

Patrick chuckled. "Well the more official definition is a master manipulator of thoughts and behavior but, that just makes mentalism seem so… malicious."

Teresa smiled. "So what's your definition?"

Patrick took a sip of his tea before answering. "I… read people. And, sure, part of mentalism _is_ manipulating people through suggestion or hypnotism but-"

"Hypnotism?"

"Yes. Hypnotism."

Teresa shook her head. "You can't hypnotize people in police work, Patrick."

"Oh I know, trust me, I tried once, Bosco was not happy."

"Bosco?" Teresa hadn't heard that name in years.

"You know him?"

"He was my old partner before I left San Francisco."

"Hmm. Small world… He hated me. It was kind of amusing."

Teresa scoffed. "I bet he did."

Patrick chuckled. "Yeah, he transferred out after only a year of putting up with me. Anyway. While all that stuff is a part of mentalism, most of it is just reading people; their body language and their ticks. It can tell you a lot. I read people all the time. It's hard not to."

"Have you been reading me?"

"Yes."

"And what did you read?"

Patrick smiled. "You aren't used to wearing dresses, you hate your shoes, they hurt your feet, you are the oldest and have several younger siblings, most likely brothers, and you haven't dated in a while because you are intense and particular and you haven't met many men that can live up to your expectations even though you aren't quite sure what those are yourself."

Teresa's mouth fell open, trying to find a good way to respond. Finally she exclaimed, "I am not intense and particular!"

"Oh yeah?" Patrick set his tea and her empty glass down on the nearest table before leaning against the wall, staring at her intently with his arms crossed. "Why did your last relationship end?"

"He bit his fingernails," she shrugged.

"See, that's particular."

"It is not!" she protested, "It's a disgusting habit."

"There's intense."

"Oh, hush."

Just then Jordan came around the corner. "There you are!" he exclaimed. He turned to Patrick, "mind if I borrow her?"

Patrick started to answer but Teresa beat him to it. "No, he doesn't."

Patrick laughed lightly as Jordan led Teresa out of the room. He picked up the glass and his now cold tea to take to the kitchen. He liked Teresa. She had fire.

An hour later she had talked to all twenty-five bachelors. Chris called everyone into the main room for the first impressions rose. She gave it to Jordan. He wasn't the guy she would normally try to go for, but she really liked how he presented himself.

As the night went on, Teresa couldn't help noticing Patrick standing off to the side, watching everyone. He talked to Boyd and Bill for a while, but mostly he just stood there, not saying a word. Teresa realized he was trying to read the other men in the room. She wondered what he saw.

The time came for the Rose Ceremony, and Chris led her out into a small room with a tray holding 19 roses. "You don't have to give them all out," he told her. "Give out as many as you like. I'll leave you to your thoughts." Teresa nodded and Chris quit the room.

She walked over to the wall of pictures. One-by-one she removed the pictures of the guys she didn't want to keep. In the end she decided to send home 7 guys (Joe, Alex, Sean, Ben, Johnny, Aaron, and Tim), leaving 18 pictures on the wall and 17 more roses to give out at the ceremony.

Teresa took a deep breath. Here goes nothing.

**OK! There you have it! Just so you know, I will not be writing out the Rose Ceremonies until much later on. They are just so long! Oh, and does anyone know of anything specific that is fun to do in Paris that isn't as widely known? I'm having a bit of a problem finding something. Thanks again for reading!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four! Yay! I just noticed there is no dialogue in this one. This is really strange because there will be chapters later that have tons and tons of it. Oh well. Enjoy!**

**I still do not own anything.**

After the rose ceremony and the interview that followed, Chris led the men away to where they would be staying and Teresa went up to her suite. The second the door shut behind her she kicked of her heels. Patrick was right, they hurt her feet.

She took a shower and changed into her pajamas. After she brushed her teeth, Teresa flopped down on her bed and stared at the ceiling, thinking. It had been a long day.

She thought about each man she had met in turn. Some stood out, some didn't, and the ones who didn't were nice enough to make her want to get to know them. Who knows, maybe one of the quiet ones is her soul mate, but is just shy. She didn't want to let her dream guy slide by.

Eventually exhaustion overtook her, and she fell asleep.

The next day she hardly saw the guys at all. Most of the day was spent talking with Chris and some of the producers about the first week's dates.

The first date was a helicopter ride around to a winery outside Napa. She decided to take Abe on that one. She hadn't really spent a lot of time with Abe, but he seemed like a fun-loving guy.

The other one on one date was a hiking trip to Yosemite. Teresa was excited about this one. She had lived in California for more than a decade and she still hadn't been to the park yet. For this one she chose Korben. Korben seemed really nice, and he was a military man, so she figured he wouldn't mind doing something that involved a little physical activity.

For the group date, the producers thought that it would be good to do something up her alley. She would be talking a group of guys to a shooting range to see how well they could handle guns. It also gave her a chance to show off. She decided to take Badger, Will, Zach, Bill, Jordan, Boyd, Matt and Jake. She had a feeling that the only two people in this group who had most likely used guns before were Badger, who had told her the night before that one of his hobbies was hunting, and Matt, who seemed like the wilderness type.

The next day was her date with Abe. He had been sent the date card the previous night. Abe was average height. He had blonde short blonde hair and a broad, handsome face.

The date was fun enough, but she never once felt a romantic pull towards him. He was really nice and really funny; he didn't do anything wrong on the date, but she just didn't feel anything other than friendship towards him. He almost reminded her of one of her brothers.

She felt really bad sending him home, but she didn't want to waste any more energy on him if it wasn't going to work out anyway.

The next day was the group date. It started out with Teresa getting to show off a bit, which she enjoyed. There were several other marksmen there to help teach the men who hadn't shot before, allowing Teresa to get around to watching and talking to each of them.

Zach, Jordan, and Bill all surprised her. They did really well. Apparently they all hunted as well, though Jordan hadn't gone since his teens.

Badger got extremely frustrated at the fact that Teresa was a better marksman then he was. It came across as really immature.

Matt, she found out, wasn't big on conversations. She wasn't feeling anything for him either, as cute as he was.

Jake had some anger problems.

Boyd caught on pretty quick. That might be because she spent more time helping him then she did anyone else.

Will, well, Will and guns did not mix at all.

Overall, the group date was very informative. In the end she gave the rose to Boyd.

Her date with Korben went extremely well. Korben did not back down from anything. He was really nice and had this dry, off-beat sense of humor that always caught her by surprise and made her laugh.

Korben did JROTC in High School then attended the Air Force Academy to become a pilot. He flew the Thunderbirds. He told her all kinds of things about flying. For example, when they flew in formation, all he looked at was the lead plane, nothing else. Apparently years back four pilots had died because the lead plane malfunctioned and flew straight into the ground, followed by the other three who did not know it had happened.

The hike itself was fun enough. It was a little annoying to have to hike with a camera crew. In order to get the shots they wanted, they would frequently run ahead and tell Teresa and Korben to wait a bit until they were set. The got to the end eventually and had a lovely picnic.

She gave Korben a rose at the end, which he gladly accepted.

Patrick looked up as the door opened to reveal Korben. He had a rose on his jacket. Andres and Brandon were quick to ask him how it went and what he thought of Teresa. Kevin also went over to listen to what he said.

Patrick was a bit disappointed that he wasn't chosen to go on one of the one on one dates (on the other hand he was thrilled that he didn't go on the group date, he hated guns), but he was still pretty sure he would be staying around another week.

Most of the guys spent the next day talking about Teresa. They discussed everything anyone knew about her. The only person who withheld information was Patrick. He didn't know if Teresa would be ok with him sharing what he had guessed about her. But he sat and listened to the conversation still.

Boyd called her smart. Tony called her hot. Jordan called her feisty. Patrick chuckled at the last one. He supposed she was feisty.

**There you have it! Next chapter has a lot of Patrick/Teresa interaction in it, I promise! I should get around to posting it tomorrow.**

**Thanks for reading!**


	5. Chapter 5

**This chapter is quite a bit longer than the ones I have previously posted. It will most likely stay one of the longest as well. **

**There is a lot of interaction between Patrick and Teresa in this one. I hope it makes up for the lack thereof in previous chapters.**

**Enjoy!**

**I own nothing.**

Teresa got ready for the second cocktail party. A stylist had found her a black knee-length dress with a sweetheart neckline that Teresa loved. She was so glad that they had dresses she could borrow, she didn't own many. Mary, the stylist, told her she could keep this one. Teresa could not stop thanking her.

Patrick watched from his favorite chair in the house as Teresa talked with everyone one by one.

Right now she was talking to Brandon.

Patrick had talked to Brandon a lot the previous day. They didn't have much else to do while the group date was going on.

"_Hey, man." Patrick looked up to see Brandon taking the chair across from him in the main living area. _

"_Hi." He replied._

"_So what do you think of her?" _

_Patrick paused to think and took a sip of his tea. He really didn't know much about her yet. He knew she had to be tough to be a cop. She could be extremely witty. She liked her privacy. She also always liked to be in control of things and everything needed to be done her way. All that being said, she was an extremely interesting person. "I like her," he told Brandon. "She's strong, smart, independent. But she also seems very stubborn and controlling at times."_

_Brandon laughed. "Aren't we all?"_

_Patrick disagreed with this, but decided he didn't really feel like arguing. So he shrugged and tilted his head to the side. "What do you think of her?" _

_Patrick's companion smiled. "I like her a lot. She seems like an extremely honest person. I need that honesty, after what happened with my ex-wife." Brandon looked at his hands as he said this._

_Patrick looked up, a little surprised. "You were married?" he asked._

"_Yeah," Brandon sighed. "But she cheated on me within six months of our marriage."_

"_That's rough," Patrick said. "Does Teresa know?"_

_Brandon shook his head. "I'm planning on telling her at the cocktail party." _

Patrick sipped his tea thoughtfully. He was pretty sure Teresa would be ok with Brandon. Watching them, he saw that she looked sorry for him even.

But what would she think when he told her his story?

He had no idea.

After all, his story was a bit more intense than Brandon's. Not many women he's met had been ok with his, as one woman he briefly dated called it, "baggage".

After his talk with Brandon, Patrick realized it would be better to tell her sooner rather than later. What if she wasn't ok with it? What if she wanted someone more whole? He'd been through more than anyone else here, he'd bet his favorite car on it. If he waited to tell her then found out she didn't want to deal with that, he'd just be wasting both of their times. He just wished he could talk to her without a camera pointed at his face.

"Patrick?" The sound of Teresa's voice pulled him from his thoughts. She stood next to his chair with a drink in her hand. When he met her eyes she jerked her head towards the door, silently asking him to join her outside.

He put his tea down on the table next to him and sighed loudly, using the arm rests to push himself up. Teresa rolled her eyes.

Patrick made sure to make a big show of stretching and straightening his jacket before finally meeting her eyes again. She looked equal parts annoyed and amused. "Shall we?" he asked.

She rolled her eyes again, laughing slightly this time. He smiled and she led him outside to a quiet bench near the fountain.

He sat and watched her with a smile on his face. He wanted her to speak first. Teresa, on the other hand, seemed to expect him to talk first. So they just sat staring at each other. Patrick knew he would win their little game. He could wait as long as it took for her to become annoyed enough to break the silence.

Finally her patience wore down. "Hi."

Patrick didn't blink. "Hi."

"How are you?" Teresa asked.

"I'm alright."

Patrick watched her become increasingly irritated when he didn't reciprocate the question. He couldn't help it. It was fun winding her up. He waited for her frustration to zap her patience again.

Her comment was worth the wait. "I'm fine too, thanks for asking, jackass."

Patrick burst out laughing. He liked Teresa, he really did. "Good to hear, Teresa. Good to hear."

Teresa put her drink down and crossed her arms. The nerve of him! Really! It's like he's purposely trying to piss her off.

She watched as he took a deep breath to calm himself. She really would wait for him to talk this time. And if he didn't, she would just walk away. She did not need to put up with this.

His smile slowly evaporated as he stared at the fountain in front of them. The laughter that had filled his eyes vanished. He bit his lower lip slightly. Teresa was surprised. He almost looked _nervous_. One thing she had noticed about Patrick was that he always carried himself with an air of confidence. He was always so sure of himself. This was unexpected. Whatever he was about to tell her was very important.

She reached out to touch his forearm. Immediately his gaze met hers. She cocked her head to the side, silently asking him what he was thinking about.

Patrick sighed and looked back at the fountain once more before speaking.

"You have to understand Teresa, when I tell you this story, I'm not asking for your pity. I don't want pity. I've gotten more than my fair share. I'm telling you because it is something you need to know about me." Patrick paused, glancing at her. Teresa's eyes were locked on his face.

Pity. He didn't want her to pity him. She was right. This was serious.

"Unfortunately there is no short version, so I apologize for that."

"Just tell me, Patrick."

Patrick turned to face her fully. He bit his lip one last time before beginning his tale.

"My father raised me on a carnival circuit. He was a con man. He taught me everything he knew. Apparently kid psychics brought in more money than adult ones. I became the center of attention. While I didn't like everything he made me do, he was my father. I usually went along with it."

_A carnie?_ Patrick Jane was a carnie. Teresa supposed it shouldn't be that surprising, but still…

"Carnies are good people, but for them you are either with the show or you're not, and if you aren't with the show then you're a mark. By the time I was 19, I wanted out. Luckily I wasn't the only one. Most kids run away to join the carnival, Angela and I ran to get away from it."

_Angela? _Teresa saw sadness sweep across his face as he mentioned her name.

"Angie and I go married a few weeks later. We were young. We had no money. Unfortunately, the only thing I knew how to do was con people, so that's what I did. I worked as a psychic. I was really good at it too. Before long Angie and I had a house in Malibu, rubbing shoulders with the richest of California.

_He was a con man. He worked as a psychic. _Teresa wondered why stopped.

"Angela wasn't thrilled with my job. She was a good, honest person. She convinced me to offer my services to the police from time to time as a consultant, but I couldn't stop conning people, I was making too much money.

"Soon after we got the house in Malibu, we had a little girl. She was…" He swallowed. "She was the best thing that ever happened to me." Patrick closed his eyes and bowed his head.

Teresa was trying to wrap her head around everything. Patrick had been married before. He had a daughter. He loved them. He cared about them. One question filled her thoughts: _What had happened to them?_ It wasn't good. She knew that.

Moments later, Patrick looked back at the fountain and continued. "My life was next to perfect for a good five or so years. But I had to run my mouth. I had to be a big-shot."

His voice turned bitter at the last two sentences.

"I went on a California talk-show. After a little demonstration of what I did, the hosts asked me about the police work I was doing at the moment. I told them I was helping the police find a serial killer who went by the name of Red John."

_Red John!_ Teresa breathed in sharply. She knew about Red John. Every cop in California knew who he was. He would slash his victims up with a knife then draw a smiling face on the wall in the victim's blood. More importantly, she remembered how back in 2004, Red John had brutally murdered a woman and child in a large house in Malibu. It had stuck in her head because the little girl had been so small. It made her sick. She remembered having a toast in the bullpen with her team when he had been killed. The world was better without him.

She met Patrick's eyes again. She knew how this story was going to end.

Patrick turned back to her when she gasped. She was a cop, of course she knew about the serial killer. He knew it was also very possible she knew of the deaths in the Malibu house. One look in her eyes told him she did. Before they had looked confused. Now he saw horror, sadness, and understanding. He continued anyway.

"I mocked a serial killer on live television. When I got back to the house there was a note on my bedroom door. It said, 'Dear mister Jane, I do not like to be slandered in the media, especially by a dirty money-grubbing fraud. If you were a real psychic, instead of a dishonest little worm, you wouldn't need to open the door to see what I've done to your lovely wife and child.'" Jane heard his voice crack, but he kept going.

"I opened the door and saw the face. I broke down. When I recovered, I started to work with police full time to catch and kill the son-of-a-bitch. It took a few years, but we finally found a mistake. DNA evidence. He killed himself when we found him. Looked me right in the eyes and said 'you lose'. I wanted to kill him, but I couldn't. It look me a while to get over that."

"Patrick," Patrick looked up, surprised by the interruption. She had been quiet until now. "Patrick, you would have gone to prison for life, maybe worse."

He smiled sadly. "I was in a dark place, Teresa. I didn't care."

"But you do now?"

"Yes," he confirmed, "I realize now that Angela wouldn't have wanted me to throw my life away. She'd want me to be happy. To move on." He took a deep breath, "That's why I'm here. I'm giving myself a chance to find happiness again."

Patrick and Teresa stared at each other for a long time, both lost in their own thoughts.

Finally, Teresa nodded. "Thank you for telling me."

Patrick closed his eyes. He was sitting in the same chair he had been before he had gone outside with Teresa. He felt relived. She hadn't freaked out. She hadn't pitied him. She had told him she was sorry, but he was fine with that. For a second it even looked like she understood.

_She must have lost someone, _he thought. His best guess was her mother.

Chris came in and told them all it was time for Teresa make her decisions for the rose ceremony. Patrick saw her stand up from her place on the couch between Jordan and Badger and follow Chris out the door.

He closed his eyes. Now all there was to do was wait.

Teresa looked at the pictures on the wall. She had to pick three of them to send home. It didn't take long. In the end she settles on Matt, Badger, and Jake.

Matt didn't ever want to talk, about anything. Badger couldn't stand it when someone was better than him at something and Jake had anger problems that reminded her of…

She didn't want to put up with that.

Teresa called out to Chris. She was ready for the ceremony.

**Hope you liked it! It was really hard to write, I'm still not completely happy with it. **

**Thanks for reading!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Ok, several things. **

**First, I want to thank everyone for reviewing, I really, really appreciate it!**

**Second, I just noticed that when I upload the chapters, all of my asterisks that I put in to separate sections in the chapters disappear. will have to go back in and fix that at some point. I will replace them with "-SG-" because it stays.  
**

**Third, I am not going to be posting chapters quite as frequently as I have been, maybe every two or three days. I have been posting chapters faster than I've been writing them. In the writing process I am at the point where they start traveling places, so I have a little more research to do. It takes longer to write as a result. **

**Fourth, I want to say before you read this very short chapter that I know very little about how to play poker, so please forgive me if it's bad.**

**I own nothing.**

It was the day after the rose ceremony. Teresa was bored. Chris had asked her to stay in her suite until he came to get her, but at the beginning of the whole thing he said there were no rules, only guidelines. Why should she have to stay here when they guys were downstairs having fun? She got up from her bed and headed down to join them.

-SG-

Half the guys were sitting inside getting drinks or playing poker while the other half were out by the pool.

"Teresa! Hi!" Zach shouted from the poker table. Everyone turned to look at her, smiling.

"Hi guys!" she said, walking over to the table. "Would you mind if I played?"

The chorus sounded. They would defiantly not mind at all.

Teresa was pretty good at the game, if she did say so herself. She won some and lost some. Pretty soon the guys came in from outside to watch.

Teresa looked at her hand. A full house. It was down to her and Kevin. She decided to go for it.

Kevin threw his hand face down on the table. "Damn."

Teresa laughed. He'd been bluffing. She was collecting her chips when a voice sounded from behind her. "He threw his hand."

Everyone turned to face Patrick, who was standing some five feet away from the table with his tea.

"What?" Teresa asked.

Jordan reached in and flipped over Kevin's cards. A flush.

"Kevin!" Teresa could not believe it. "Why did you do that?"

Kevin blushed and shrugged.

"Don't do it again!"

Jordan turned back to Patrick. "You wanna join us, hot-shot?"

Patrick just shook his head.

"Come on, man!" yelled Jack.

"No, I'm fine really."

"What, are you scared?" Andres mocked.

Patrick stopped at this. Slowly, he put his tea down on the nearest coffee table and made his way over to the table, grabbing a folding chair from the stack they had brought out at the start of the game. "Deal me in."

Teresa played the first hand, but quickly decided it would be more fun to watch at this point. Patrick, it turned out, was a pretty smart poker player. He knew when to risk it and when to step back. Unfortunately he had a pretty obvious tell. Teresa thought this was strange, given his profession.

It got to the point where Patrick and Andres had the most chips. They were the only two still in on this hand. Patrick sat thinking about what he wanted to do. Andres almost laughed at his expressions.

Finally, Patrick said, "All in." He pushed his chips to the center.

Andres did the same. "I'll admit, you got guts. Unfortunately you have an extremely obvious tell when you bluff."

Patrick cocked his head to the side. "What, you mean when I reach up to grab my ear but then stop myself, that tell?"

"Yeah."

Patrick smiled put his cards down face up. Four of a kind.

"OH!"

"Burn!"

"He got you good, man!"

Andres stood up and stared at the cards. Teresa just stared at Patrick. She knew he had been a con artist, but this was the first time she's seen how good at it he was at it. She made a mental note to never trust him when they were playing games.

Just then Chris walked in. Oh well, it was fun while it lasted.

**Part of this scene was based off of one in the first episode of season 4. I really wanted to put something like that in here, so I wrote this little thing. Hope it was ok!**

**As always, thanks for reading!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hey, look! Another long chapter! **

**The more I go back and read these the more I realize I really suck at writing. Oh, well. The story is entertaining enough I think. **

**I actually had to cut this chapter in half. It was way too long. I will post the other half soon.**

**Lots of Patrick/Teresa in this . **

**I own nothing.**

Teresa was wide awake at 2:30 in the morning following the first one on one date of the week. She had sent him home. He was nice, really, but he had a good job in another city and she did not want to leave Sacramento any more than he wanted to leave Virginia. She wished his team good luck in the next season.

They had gone to the Disney Concert Hall then to the beach for dinner. It could have been romantic.

At this point she had sent more people home from group dates then kept them.

Was there something wrong with her? She didn't think so. She started to wonder if her perfect man was here at all. Was this the right decision, coming on the show? Her mind raced.

She sat up from her bed. She could tell she wasn't going to sleep tonight. Might as well get some ice cream from the freezer in the kitchen. She had asked the producers to make sure her favorite double chocolate moose tracks was in large supply.

-SG-

"Teresa?" Teresa jumped and the ice cream scooper she was using fell with a bang to the counter.

She turned to see Patrick standing in the entrance of the kitchen, surprisingly without his usual cup of tea. He was still wearing the same outfit (dress pants, vest, and button-up shirt with the sleeves rolled up to the elbows) that he had been wearing the previous day (that was one thing she noticed about him. He almost never dressed casual).

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you," ("I was not scared!" Teresa interjected), " I was just surprised to see you. What are you doing up so late?"

Teresa looked him up and down. "I could ask the same thing. You haven't even changed out of your day clothes."

Patrick just shrugged. "I don't sleep much."

"Really?" She asked skeptically.

"Really."

"Insomnia?"

"Not exactly."

Teresa wished he would elaborate, but he didn't. Instead, he just stared at her. It took her a minute, but she figured it out.

"Oh…"

-SG-

Teresa was smart; Patrick knew she would figure out why exactly he didn't sleep. "Yeah," he replied.

He could tell she had become extremely uncomfortable, and he didn't really want to talk about his nightmares, so he changed the subject. "Double Chocolate Moose Tracks, huh?"

"Huh? Oh… yeah." She looked back down at her ice cream. She had forgotten about it after Patrick showed up. The scooper was still sitting on the counter. She picked it up and threw it in the sink. When she turned around, Patrick was holding out a spoon for her.

"Thanks."

"Funny, I had you pegged as the red velvet type."

"Well, that's what I usually get. I only get this when I am extremely stressed and for special occasions." She told him as she put the spoon in the bowl of ice cream still sitting on the counter.

"What's the occasion?" Patrick asked.

"I'm stressed."

Patrick's frowned. "About what?"

Teresa smirked. And he called himself observant.

Patrick nodded once. "Yeah, that was a dumb question."

"You bet it was."

Patrick's mind flickered to what he had found exploring the house a week ago.

"Want to watch a movie?"

Teresa looked confused. "A movie?"

"A movie is basically a moving picture with sound used to tell stories."

Teresa smacked his arm, "Hush! I know what a movie is, smartass. I was confused because I don't know where in the house we would watch a movie."

"Are you agreeing to watch a movie with me?"

"Are you telling me you have a way of watching a movie?"

Patrick rolled his eyes. He picked up Teresa's ice cream from the counter and put it in her hands before leading her out of the kitchen by the arm.

He quickly found the door that led to the basement. At the bottom of the stairs he flipped on the lights.

"I wouldn't offer to watch a movie if I had no means of actually doing so."

In the basement was a small home movie theatre. There were armchairs and loveseats and couches all lined up in front of a huge screen. She looked back at Patrick, who was smiling.

"Sorry I doubted you."

"You should be! Do you want to watch a movie or not?"

"Well, what do they have?"

Patrick walked over to a cupboard on the far wall. Teresa set her ice cream down on the arm of a chair and followed him. When he opened it, he saw Teresa's eyes light up for a moment.

"What movie did you see?" He asked. Out of the hundred or so movies in the cupboard, she had seen one that she really wanted to watch.

Teresa looked confused. "What?"

"When I opened the door your eyes lit up. Which movie did you see?"

Teresa panicked. "Oh, um, they have the Bourne Trilogy."

Patrick shook his head. He had seen her eyes wander franticly over the selves before she gave her answer. "You are a terrible liar, Teresa."

"I love those movies!" She insisted.

"I'm sure you do, but you don't want to watch them."

"I do too!"

"No, you don't." He could not believe how stubborn she was sometimes.

"You know what, fine, what movie do _you_ think I want to watch Patrick?"

Patrick smiled. A challenge. Excellent. "Well, let's see, shall we?" He began to run his finger over all of the DVD cases, starting on the top self. He wasn't looking at them; he was watching Teresa's face, looking for some kind of signal. Finally he saw her twitch and stopped moving his finger. He pulled out the DVD. "Pride & Prejudice? Stop the presses, Teresa Lisbon is a closet romantic!"

Teresa just blushed as Patrick examined the DVD. It was the 2005 version with Keira Knightley as Elizabeth. "I haven't seen this one." He said.

"Me neither."

Patrick looked up, surprised. "Really? I assumed you had seeing as you were the one who wanted to watch it."

Teresa froze. Patrick was taken aback. He had obviously a sore spot, he just didn't know how.

He hesitantly reached out a hand and rested it on her shoulder. "Teresa? You ok?"

-SG-

Teresa looked up at his face. She was surprised at the amount of concern in his eyes. Patrick was usually so lighthearted and carefree, and having him stare so intently at her was startling. She could feel her defenses crumbling. She looked back down at her feet.

Suddenly she was talking. "Pride and Prejudice was my mom's favorite book. She read it to me when I was little. I didn't read it again until after she…" Her voice caught in her throat. She tried a few more seconds to get the words out and when she couldn't she met Patrick's eyes again. She hoped that he could figure it out.

One look in his eyes confirmed it. He knew.

-SG-

Patrick had already guessed that Teresa had lost her mother when she was young, but now he knew for sure. He didn't know how or exactly when, but she had lost her.

Instead of speaking, he just moved his thumb back and forth on her shoulder. He took it as a good sign that she didn't throw it off. He could tell from day one that she had put up walls around her head and heart. He doubted that anyone else in the house had seen her with her defenses down. He knew he couldn't take it for granted.

Patrick decided not to ask any more questions. He certainly was not going to push her to tell him things. It would be rude and intrusive.

Teresa took the DVD from Patrick's hand and looked at it. "I've seen every single adaptation except this one. When it came out I asked my boyfriend at the time if he wanted to see a movie with me. He automatically assumed I was talking about the latest action film. He was so excited about it that I didn't say anything, and after that I got so busy with work I just didn't have the time. We broke up about three weeks later."

Patrick was surprised at her openness with him. He really hadn't talked to her much beyond the cocktail parties. Maybe it was because it was late and she was tired. Maybe it was because… oh god.

What if she was telling him this because of what he had told her? What if she was feeling obligated?

"Teresa, you don't have to tell me this, you know that right?"

She nodded, but he wasn't convinced.

He tipped her chin up so he could meet her eyes. "I'm serious Teresa. I don't want you to think you have to tell me things just because of what I've told you. If you tell me something, I want it to be because you want to."

Slowly, she nodded again. "Ok."

Patrick really decided it was time to lighten the mood. "Hey, can you set up the movie? I'm no good at technology stuff. Too many buttons."

It worked. Teresa broke out into a huge smile.

"You don't know who to work a DVD player?"

"Nope!"

"What am I going to do with you?"

**I picked Pride & Prejudice because I am obsessed with that story right now. It is so cute! Seriously, you need to read it. The diction is tough, but the story is so amazing and the dialogue is witty and the characters are great. If you need to, get an audio book, it helps. **

**Anyway, thank you so much for reading! You are awesome!**


	8. Chapter 8

**This chapter is short again. I just want to say, when I split up the story, I do it when it feels right to. I don't look at the length of them until later. **

**I'm hitting some huge writers block right now in the later chapters. That is why I'm not updating as quickly. **

**Oh! And I made a profile, YAY!**

**Anyway, here it is in all it's... well, here it is.**

**I don't own anything.**

Teresa had settled down on a large squishy armchair and Patrick was lying down on a loveseat with his head on one armrest and his legs on the other.

At the beginning of the movie, Teresa had opted for a solo chair instead of sitting next to him on the loveseat. She couldn't do it for some reason. She was sure he would tease her for that, but instead he just smiled and shook his head.

The movie was good. She thought the actor who played Mr. Bingley was adorable. The actor who played Darcy was good too, but she still liked Colin Firth better. But, you know, that might have been because she was more used to him than this Darcy.

As she finished her ice cream, Teresa started to notice that Patrick was watching her more than he was watching the movie. She wondered what he was thinking. It started to make her feel uncomfortable. She felt like an open book under his gaze.

"Would you stop looking at me, Patrick? Watch the movie."

"You're much more interesting."

Teresa felt herself blushing. "Watch the movie."

-SG-

Patrick smiled. She really was adorable when she blushed. Not that he was going to tell her that. He was pretty sure he'd get punched in the face. He decided to honor her wishes and paid more attention to what was happening on the screen. Though, he did glance at her every now and again, he couldn't help it.

It surprised him that he liked her as much as he did.

There was so much more to Teresa Lisbon then he ever would have thought. Underneath the hardcore agent there was a romantic. Under the fierce protector there was a heart broken by the loss of her mother. Patrick decided he wanted to know more about her. She was so interesting.

But he knew she didn't open up easily. He'd caught her at a moment of weakness earlier. OK, so not as much weakness as vulnerability. Teresa Lisbon was not weak.

When Elizabeth had rejected Mr. Collins' marriage proposal, Teresa spoke. "I've always liked Elizabeth. She's so strong. She never lets anyone push her around."

Patrick smiled. "I'd be surprised if you didn't like Elizabeth. You remind me of her."

Teresa snapped her head around to look at him. "Really?"

Patrick nodded. "Think about it."

After a few seconds, he heard her whisper. "I suppose you might be right."

"I usually am."

Teresa picked up a pillow from the floor and threw it at him. "Shut up, smartass."

Patrick laughed. She did remind him of Elizabeth.

If Teresa was like Elizabeth, that would make Angela…

"Angela was a lot like Jane."

As he spoke Teresa turned to look at him fully. "Yeah?"

"Yeah." Patrick stared at the ceiling of the dark room. "She was too sweet for her own good sometimes. Always looking for the best in everyone… I think that's why I loved her so much. She knew what I did. She knew I was a con. But she never focused on that. She would keep telling me I was a good person."

"Sounds like an amazing woman."

Patrick smiled. "She was."

They sat in silence for the rest of the movie.

-SG-

After the movie finished, Patrick had insisted she go back to bed.

She didn't think she'd be able to sleep after their deep conversations; they'd given her a lot to think about. But apparently she was more tired than she thought she was.

At least she had a day to rest before the group date. She could sleep in a little bit.

As she laid in bed the following later that morning, Teresa tried to figure out if she was uncomfortable with Patrick talking to her about his late wife. After considering it for about an hour, she decided she wasn't. Like he said, she's a part of his past and a part of him. He should be able to talk about her.

Patrick.

She still could not believe she had told him all that she had. She was never that open. With anyone. Not even with Cho, who she'd known for over 7 years. At least there were no cameras around during the conversation in the basement. She thanked God for that.

**Well, what did you think? Not too horrible I hope.**

**Next up is a group date. Fun stuff!**

**Thanks for reading!**


	9. Chapter 9

**This chapter was hard for me for a few reasons. First, it wasn't long enough, so I had to go back and add stuff. Second, I have been going through a load of writers block, and third, I have no idea what the best way to write Neil Patrick Harris's name without writing out Neil Patrick Harris every time. I just settled on "Harris". I hope that's ok with all of you lovely people. **

**I own nothing.**

Patrick sat down in his favorite armchair to hear who would be going on the next group date.

Zach picked up the card.

"Magic is in the air. Andres, Patrick, Kyle, Jack, Tony, Kevin, and Brandon."

"Well that is either something to do with Disney or, like, actual magic," said Jack.

"There is no such thing as actual magic," Patrick stated as he rose from his chair. "It's all just trickery." He reached behind Jack's ear and pulled out a quarter. "You can keep that."

Several of the guys snickered, but Jack seemed goodhearted about it. He grabbed the coin and stared at it with wide eyes. In his best little kid voice, he said, "Gee, thanks, Mister!"

Patrick laughed and started to walk to the kitchen to get a cup of tea. He didn't get very far.

"Hey, Patrick, show me how to do a card trick!" Tony shouted from across the room.

Patrick sighed. Oh, well. Tea would have to wait. He grabbed a deck of cards and sat down at the table.

Tony sat down across from him, and several guys crowded around to watch. Step by step, Patrick instructed Tony on how to do a trick.

"Is this your card?" Tony asked at the end of it.

"Yep!"

Tony smiled. "Cool! How'd I do that?"

Patrick re shuffled the deck and went through the steps himself.

"Is this your card?" He asked Tony.

"Nope!"

The guys around the table laughed.

Patrick looked confused. "Really?"

"Really."

"Huh, that's weird."

-SG-

When Teresa had told the guys they were going to the Magic Castle they were so excited. Well, everyone except Andres, who complained that this meant Patrick would get to show off a lot. Teresa didn't know Patrick was good at magic, but it didn't really surprise her.

When they entered they were greeted by none other than one and only Neil Patrick Harris.

Teresa loved Neil Patrick Harris. She used to watch Doogie Howser when she was younger and How I Met Your Mother was one of her favorite Sit Coms. She knew he was the President of the place, but she still hadn't expected him to be there.

After a brief introduction of the Magic Castle, Harris decided to show them a few simple magic tricks for them to practice. The first one he showed them was a quick card trick. At the end of the trick, Harris told Kyle to take out his wallet and look behind his driver's license. Kyle pulled out a card. Harris smiled but Kyle looked confused. "Was that supposed to be impressive? Because this is not my card."

"What?" exclaimed Harris. He took the card out from Kyle's hand and looked at it.

"Hey! That's my card!" shouted Tony. He turned to Patrick, "how did you do that?"

Harris looked at Patrick. "You do magic?"

Patrick smiled and shrugged.

-SG-

The rest of the date went by without Patrick drawing too much attention to himself, though he did spend a lot of time chatting with Harris while the rest of them were learning the magic tricks.

And just because he didn't draw attention to himself didn't mean Teresa didn't notice him. Because she did. Ever since the movie she's been hyper aware about where he was at all times. She couldn't help it.

The big problem was that he was always looking at her as well. That's what it seemed like at least. She couldn't even glance at him without meeting his eyes. Teresa couldn't help feeling like she was getting caught stealing cookies from a cookie jar.

As far as she knew, no one knew about their late night movie date (was it a date? It seemed kind of like a date). Not even the producers. It hadn't come up during the interview she had done in the morning. Teresa was thankful for that.

Even so, Teresa still didn't want anyone to find out about it. She didn't know why. Nothing had really even happened. They hadn't kissed. She sat in a separate chair even. But here she was acting extra paranoid. Every time she met his gaze she would look around, hoping nobody saw.

She was pretty sure she saw Patrick smirk at her once. Of course he noticed her paranoia. He even thought it was funny. Jerk.

Other than that the date was going great. She got to talk to all the guys (minus Patrick) one on one. They all seemed to be having a great time. Brandon and Jack picked up the tricks the fastest.

It was enjoyable right up until the amazing Neil Patrick Harris told her that she was going to be the "beautiful assistant" in the mini-magic show the guys were putting on at the end of the night. This job included wearing a tiny, sparkly get-up in front of a large group of people.

Why her? She didn't want to wear some flashy outfit on stage. No way. She asked one of the producers if there was any way of getting out of it. She told Teresa that if she really didn't want to she didn't have to, but promised her that if she did she would have a good time.

Eventually, Teresa agreed to do it.

"Don't worry too much." Teresa jumped at the voice. She didn't even need to look up to know who it was.

"Stop doing that, Patrick!" She was getting really annoyed of him sneaking up on her all the time.

He ignored her outburst. "It's a compliment, really. Why do magicians have beautiful female assistants?"

"Huh?"

"Because they're reliable distracters of attention. People will look at a beautiful woman for a long time before they look where they should be looking if they want to see how the trick really works. We couldn't do the show without you."

Teresa just stared at him with her mouth open. What the hell was she supposed to say to that?

He smiled. "That too was meant to be a compliment, my dear." With that, he slipped away around the corner, leaving Teresa utterly confused.

That was probably the strangest compliment she had ever received. Had Patrick really just told her that he thought she was beautiful in such an indirect way?

Teresa shook her head to clear it, no time to think about that now. She had already spent way too much time thinking about Patrick Jane in the last 24 hours. Taking a deep breath, she stepped into the changing room to put on the small outfit.

-SG-

The show had gone really well. Teresa had actually enjoyed herself. Afterward she took the guys upstairs to the restaurant for dinner, where she had given the rose to Brandon. She has liked Brandon from the beginning. He was the first person she met, and he had a fantastic personality.

She had to admit it, she almost gave the rose to Patrick, but she hadn't talked to him much today and it would have looked strange. Plus, she still wasn't sure she had him quite figured out yet.

No, wait… she was _defiantly_ sure she hadn't figured him out yet.

**Yay for magic!**

**Next chapter will be up soon. Thanks for reading!**


	10. Chapter 10

**So I just posted the first chapter of another story I'm trying (key word: TRYING) to write. Hopefully it will turn out ok. It's called "Colorado".**

**Also recently posted was the next chapter of **Mentalist0501's "**The Bachelor", which was one of my inspirations for writing this. **

**I gotta admit, reading other people's work then reading my own work makes me a little sad. I'm not that great of a writer. I like to think I have good ideas, but I just can't write them down as well as I wish I could. **

**Anyway, here is the next chapter. When you are done reading this, and if you haven't already done so, go read "The Bachelor" as well, while you're at it. It's fun. **

**I own nothing.**

Next up, Teresa had a one on one date with Boyd. She never expected to like the youth pastor so much, mostly because she wasn't one to go around and talk about her faith all the time. She expected that from him. But, while Boyd did consistently bring up his faith more than anyone else in the group, he never really preached to her.

She decided to take Boyd on this one on one date because it was a bit adventurous. She wanted to see if she could have fun with him. She knew he was an open person, she knew he was trustworthy, but she wanted to be able to have fun with whomever she chose to spend the rest of her life with.

She was happy to say Boyd rose to the occasion. They had taken a hot air balloon for a ride near the four corners area before taking a few hikes and going to dinner. It went extremely well. It was amazing how normal he was, not that pastors are strange or anything, but she did not expect him to be a fan of Castle and Psych and the Big Bang Theory; or like to read crime novels; or stay up late watching a Scary Movie marathon, which apparently he did. She found over the course of the date that she could have fun with him. She could laugh with him.

Boyd got a rose at the end of the night, and Teresa got a kiss.

Boyd was a good kisser. Who would have thought?

-SG-

Teresa was looking forward to the cocktail party. There were five people she wanted to talk to: Andres, Bill, Kyle, Will, and Tony. They were all the people she wasn't sure about keeping. She just didn't feel any connection to them yet.

She also wanted to talk to Patrick. She was sure he'd find her sometime tonight. He had a way of sneaking up on her when she least expected it, so she didn't worry about seeking him out.

And she was right. After she had talked to about six of the guys, she went to the kitchen to get something that was not alcoholic. She needed a clear head.

"Try the tea, it's fantastic."

Teresa spilled some of the water she was pouring when she jumped ("_Damn it!_"). She turned around and there he was, looking as amazingly handsome as ever.

"Why do you keep sneaking up on me like that?"

"It's fun to watch your reaction," he replied, grinning as he took a sip of tea from the cup in his hand.

"Jackass."

"Whoa, language, Teresa!"

"Oh, hush."

"How are you?" The question was innocent enough, but she knew what he was really talking about was if she felt better since their movie night.

"I'm great. I'm starting to get some sleep around here actually. You?" she asked.

-SG-

She worded the question in a way that said she wanted to know if he had been sleeping at all. Patrick had no idea why she really seemed to care about his sleeping habits, but he was a little touched none the less. Still, he wasn't about to tell the whole of America that he didn't sleep well because he still had nightmares about a crazy serial killer. "I'm ok, same as ever," he replied just as vaguely.

Teresa seemed to get his meaning. Her lips curled up in a smile, but her eyes still looked concerned. "Ok." She paused. It seemed like she wanted to ask him another question, so he drank his tea and waited.

"What was with the whole magician's assistant thing?"

It took him a second to figure out what she was talking about. Patrick tried to think of the most honest way to answer this. "I knew if I complimented you directly you would blush and I would tease you about it, because let's face it, it's cute. You don't like being teased in front of people, especially if you're blushing. You're welcome."

He could tell Teresa didn't expect that for an answer. She opened and closed her mouth a few times like she was going to say something, but never did.

Instead, in attempt to cover up her speechlessness, she stole his tea.

"Hey!" He shouted after her as she walked away.

"You did tell me to try the tea!" She reminded him.

"Touché." Patrick smiled and shook his head, but didn't go after her. If she wanted his tea, she could have it. Still, he couldn't just let her off the hook. Before she rounded the corner he yelled, "You look beautiful, Teresa!" He could tell she was trying not to smile as her cheeks flushed.

-SG-

In the end, Teresa decided to send Andres and Will home. Andres was way too serious about everything, especially when it came to her talking to other guys (and, come on, she was supposed to do that! It's kind of the point of the show!), and Will, well, Will she just didn't feel any romantic connection with. She would love to be friends with him, he was a fun guy, but, she just didn't like him that way.

Andres was angry. Will was understanding.

At least she didn't need to worry about not sleeping; this time she knew she made the correct decision.

**Eh, not too bad right? I know Lisbon seems to blush a lot in this, but, you know, they made a comment in the show about Lisbon blushing (In the first season even!) so I reckon it's ok to have her blush here too.**

**As always, thank you for reading!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Good gracious, this is long!**

**So this is one of the scenes I really wanted to do from the beginning. It ended up being really long but I didn't want to split it up. **

**Apparently I can't settle for just stealing lines from the series, I have to use some from other fanficiton as well. One line in this chapter was based off of one from a story called "Shoot to Kill" by **waterbaby134**. It's one of my absolute all-time favorite one-shots and I could not get the line out of my head so I added it, even though it doesn't really fit. Oh, well. Go read "Shoot to Kill", it's fantastic.**

**I hope you like this chapter! It's not perfect, but you know…**

**I own nothing.**

Two days later Teresa was learning how to sail on a one on one date with Zach. She would be lying if she said her picking him for this date had nothing to do with the possibility of seeing him shirtless. She'd seen him without a shirt before, there was a pool at the mansion after all, but still… _Damn!_

He was gorgeous. Not to mention extremely buff.

Ok, so Zach wasn't the brightest, but he defiantly didn't fit into the dumb jock stereotype. He finished with a 3.0 in college, he wasn't a big drinker, and he loved Star Wars. Apparently he'd even read some of the novels. Teresa was surprised he even admitted that to her.

She had a lot in common with Zach. They liked the same music and movies. They both hated sushi. They both grew up in Chicago.

He was a really fun guy to be around. She liked him. A lot.

At the end of the day, Zach got his rose, and Teresa got her kiss(es).

-SG-

Teresa was playing pool with Kyle, Jack, and Kevin when Chris walked in and told her she had an important phone call. This was strange because usually the producers didn't want them talking to the "outside world". She apologized to the guys before following Chris out into another room.

He handed her the cell phone.

"Hello?"

"Lisbon!" It was Grace. "Something's happened to Cho. He's been shot!" Grace practically shouted into the phone.

"WHAT?" Teresa quickly found the bathroom and shut the door behind her, turning off her mic at the same time. "Van Pelt, what happened!"

"We went to ask some follow-up questions to one of the witnesses and Cho hit a sore spot. The guy freaked out. Pulled a gun. I don't know how bad it is, the ambulance just took him away, but he was breathing, that's a good sign."

Teresa leaned against the wall in the bathroom. What she wanted more than anything at the moment was to leave for the hospital. One of her agents was injured, and badly. Why, WHY did she have to do this? She knew something like this would happen! If she hadn't gone on this stupid dating show she could be with Cho at the hospital already.

"Boss?" Grace's voice made her jump slightly.

"Ok, I'm going to keep this phone with me. Call me when you find out more about his condition. If it's bad, I'll come out, ok?"

"Will do, Boss."

"Thank you for calling, Grace." With that Teresa hung up the phone. She gathered herself up and turned on her mic again before stepping out of the bathroom. Chris was on the other side with a camera man.

In order to keep her emotions in check, Teresa became Agent Lisbon for the first time in weeks. "I'm keeping this phone for a while. There was an emergency back home and I need to keep up to speed on it."

Chris nodded. "Let me know if you need anything."

Teresa nodded back. "Thank you, I appreciate it." Quickly, she turned and made her way to the door.

She needed to shoot something.

Now.

-SG-

Patrick walked into the main living area to find all of the guys sitting around talking with worried looks on their faces.

"What happened?"

Jack looked up. "Teresa got a call earlier. She didn't tell us what it was about, but when she was done with the phone she ran out to the shooting range. She said she'd shoot anyone who tried to follow her."

Patrick tapped his pointer finger to his lips, thinking. He wondered if she really would shoot him for going down to see her. None of the other guys were getting up to follow her. He decided to risk it. Patrick turned and headed for the door.

"Seriously, man, I think she just wants to be alone!" he heard Kevin shout as he opened the back door. He has always thought Kevin was spineless.

Patrick ignored him and left the house. He could have sworn her heard Jordan say, "you're funeral," just as the door pulled shut.

-SG-

Teresa had already emptied 3 magazines when she heard a voice behind her.

"You know, a lot of guys would be intimidated by a woman who can handle a gun as well as you can, but I have to admit I find it incredibly sexy."

_Damn it! _It was Patrick. She turned to face him.

Teresa didn't know whether she should blush from the compliment or shoot him for disturbing her solitary.

So she just yelled at him. "Go away, Patrick!"

Patrick didn't move. "No."

"Excuse me?"

"No. I'm not leaving until you tell me what is wrong." His voice was irritatingly calm.

"Oh, really?"

"Yes, really."

Teresa felt her temper rising. "Do I have no say in this? I don't want to talk about it!"

Patrick smiled and shook his head, breaking eye contact. "Liar."

Teresa's jaw dropped at the accusation. "What did you say?"

Patrick put his hands in his jacket pockets and met her eyes once more. "You _do_ want to talk about it. You just don't want to talk to _me_ about it. But seeing as I'm the only one here, you are just going to have to get over that."

Teresa could not believe it. How dare he. He had no right. She told him to leave, he should respect that. Get lost. But no! He decided to be an asshole. Fine. _Fine_. She'd just ignore him then.

She turned back around and loaded her gun then emptied the contents into the target. She loaded it three more times. She could feel Patrick watching her, and her shots were getting more and more erratic as her frustration grew. Finally, she was out of magazines. She kept pulling the trigger but all the gun did was click.

"AHH!" She threw the gun at the target. It was immature, sure, but she wasn't exactly in the best mood. Drained, Teresa sat down against the stack of hay bales next to the station. She pulled her knees up to her chest and buried her face in her arms.

To her dismay she heard Patrick sit down next to her.

She huffed. "I thought you said you only wanted me to tell me things if I wanted to."

"Ahh, but see, you do want to tell me." Teresa snorted at this, and he added, "at the very least you don't want to be alone. No one wants to be alone when they are upset."

She shook her head without lifting it. "I always want to be alone when I'm upset."

"Do you though? Really?"

Teresa thought about it. All those days sitting alone in the house after a tough case, or after hearing that one of her brothers was in trouble. She remembered the day her dog had been killed by a car, and that time she was almost convicted of murder. She realized how much easier it would have been if she had had someone to talk to, someone to be there for her. Teresa eventually admitted to herself that he was right. She never had wanted to be alone when she was sad. She just didn't want anyone to see her looking weak. She lifted her head from her arms to look at the man sitting next to her.

"I guess you're right," she confessed.

"I'm always right."

-SG-

Patrick reckoned he deserved it when Teresa jabbed him in the side with her elbow. "Ouch!"

He saw her smile with content at his pain.

He sat with her in silence for the next half hour. He took it as a good sign that she didn't tell him to leave again. But maybe that's only because she knew he wouldn't even if she did. He really didn't care either way. He was staying right there.

The silence was comfortable enough, but Patrick still wished she would talk to him. She didn't need to keep everything inside all the time.

Finally her phone rang and she answered it without even checking to see who it was. Patrick couldn't hear what was being said on the other end of the line, but he saw Teresa relax a little as she listened.

"Ok, thanks, Van Pelt," she said into the phone before hanging up and resting her head back against the hay. She looked relived.

"Good news?" he asked.

Teresa nodded. "He's going to be ok."

_Now we are getting somewhere, _thought Patrick. "Who?"

"Cho. My second in command. He was shot on duty earlier today. It's been touch and go for the past two hours, but he's beginning to stabilize."

"So why are you still sad?"

"I'm not sad."

Patrick looked at her face more closely. She was right. "You're guilty?"

Teresa nodded.

What did she have to feel guilty about? It wasn't like there was anything she could have done, was there? Why on earth did she feel guilty? He racked his brain. Finally, the answer dawned on him. "You think you should have been there. You might have been able to stop it from happening."

She nodded again. "He's on my team. It's my job.

Patrick smiled and shook his head. He could not believe it. She had to be the most protective woman he has ever met.

"Teresa, he's a cop too."

"I know that Patrick." Her tone was condescending.

"So don't be so hard on yourself. He can take care of himself." Teresa didn't answer him, so he continued. "You can't protect everyone, my dear."

"I sure as hell can try."

Patrick shook his head once more. Stubborn woman. Amazing, incredible, stubborn woman. Agent Teresa Lisbon: Protector of the world.

"It's not your fault, Teresa."

She looked at her knees. "I know," she whispered.

Patrick decided he needed her to distract her a bit, lighten the mood. "Tell me about them."

Teresa looked up at him. "What?"

"Your team, what are they like?"

Patrick saw her smile slightly as she thought. "Umm, well, I've known Cho the longest. He's been at the bureau about the same time as me. Sometimes I wonder why he hasn't gotten promoted yet, but I think it's because he likes to follow orders, not give them. Not that he couldn't have his own team, he has more than proved himself, but I don't think he wants one.

" He's our best interrogator because he's extremely blunt and stoic, _all the time_. I think I've seen him show true emotion maybe fifteen times since I started working with him seven years ago... Anyway, it makes suspects uncomfortable. He's sarcastic as hell too. Drives Rigsby crazy. Poor guy is such a mark sometimes.

"Rigsby was an arson specialist before he joined the team. My team worked with him on a case in San Diego before I was promoted, and I liked the way handled everything, so I brought him over. He's more likely to follow the rules than Cho. He respects the system."

"Van Pelt has been on the team for about two years now. She has a heart of gold, but understands the reality of job. She is really good with computers and research. She can find little details and connections I would have never thought of.

"…She's also one of my closest friends. She's actually the one who convinced me to give this whole thing a try."

Patrick smiled. "And what about you?"

"What?"

"How would you describe yourself? Other than extremely stubborn and over-protective."

That earned him another jab to the rib.

"Shut up! I am not."

"Uh, yeah, you kind of are."

Teresa shook her head.

Patrick shifted so he could look her in the eyes. "I'm not saying it's a bad thing, dear."

"Whatever." She was silent for a moment as she figured out how to answer his question.

"I guess I would say that I'm smart. I follow the rules. I can give orders and make quick decisions. I'm good under pressure and I probably love my job way too much."

Patrick cocked his head to the side. "Why do you say that?"

Teresa laughed. "I have no personal life. My job _is_ my life. I love what I do, and I wouldn't give it up for anything."

"I wouldn't say that."

Now it was Teresa's turn to look confused. She waited for him to explain himself.

"You would give up your job in a second to save the life of someone you care about. You would give it up to get your mother back. And even though we've only known each other for a few weeks I'd bet my car you would give it up to bring _my_ family back if there was a way. That's just the way you are. You care about those around you. You may not be happy about losing your job, I actually think you'd be miserable, but you would still do it."

-SG-

Teresa looked away. She knew he was right. On all counts. He continued to speak.

"You say Van Pelt is the one with the heart of gold, but I can almost guarantee she's got nothing on you." He surprised her by leaning over and kissing the side of her head, stunning her for a moment. He stood up and stretched. "I'm headed back. Do you want to come with me or do you need a few more minutes?"

"Give me a bit."

"Don't be too long." He turned and walked around the camera crew (wait…when did they get here? How long were they listening?).

"Hey Patrick!" She called before she could stop herself.

He stopped in his tracks. "Yeah?"

"Thanks."

He smiled. "You're welcome."

**Well, that's that! I hope you liked it. I'm going to start being a heck of a lot more busy starting next week, so my updates will slow down a little, but I will finish this, I promise!**

**Thanks for reading!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Hey! I'm back!**

**This chapter is a little short, kind of a filler, but some stuff does happen. **

**I hope you like it! Thanks to everyone who had added this story to their favorites and alerts! You are awesome!**

**I own nothing.**

The producers delayed the Two on One date a day so that Teresa could continue to get updates on Cho's condition, which was steadily improving. By the end of the day, she even got to talk to him. It let her breathe again.

The two people she had chosen earlier in the week to go on the date were Patrick and Kevin. She had to admit, at this point, Kevin would really have to really impress her in order to stay.

Patrick drove her crazy. One moment he would be childish and egotistical, and the next he would be one of the sweetest men she has ever met.

But she liked him. She really did.

The date was in San Francisco. She hoped Patrick wouldn't mind. It wasn't like they were going on a date to the police station.

The date included walking around Fisherman's Wharf and Alcatraz.

Once or twice while they were walking around someone would say hi to Patrick, and he would smile and wave. He looked like he belonged here.

Kevin, on the other hand, looked extremely uncomfortable. Patrick seemed to have decided that he would let Kevin do most of the talking. She wished he wouldn't. It was so awkward.

-SG-

Patrick could tell Teresa was uncomfortable. He imagined being on a date with two guys at the same time was not the best position to be in. He had decided to give Kevin the chance to talk to her. Unfortunately, the kid was not the best at making conversation, and the group was often found walking around in silence.

Several times Teresa tried to engage Patrick in conversation, but he would just turn the attention back to the Lacrosse player.

When they finally got on the boat to head over to Alcatraz, Patrick decided it was time to step up. Teresa looked relived. The thought made him tremendously happy.

He loved Alcatraz. There was so much mystery there. He knew countless stories and legends and myths about the place. He didn't say all of them, he assumed they would have a tour guide at some point, and he didn't want to have told Teresa _all_ the stories. Or maybe he did. He could imagine a frazzled tour guide would be amusing to her.

-SG-

Teresa hoped her discomfort during dinner had gone unnoticed by Patrick, but she was pretty sure it hadn't.

She already knew who she would be sending home. Kevin hadn't done anything today. She didn't even want to talk to him one on one. He had disappointed her enough.

When they finished dinner, she reached forward and grabbed the rose. Patrick was watching her. Kevin looked away.

Patrick accepted the rose. She said an awkward goodbye to Kevin, slumped down in her chair, and let out the breath she had been holding in all dinner.

Patrick reached out and put a hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry today was so awkward for you."

"It's ok."

Patrick sighed. They really needed to get back to the house. He leaned in and kissed her temple. "Let's go," he whispered.

He took her hand as she stood and walked her out to the boat. They stayed like that the whole way back to the mansion.

-SG-

After the last few emotionally draining days, Teresa was more than excited for the group date: Laser Tag with Korben, Brandon, Jack, Bill, Jordan, Kyle, Tony, and Boyd. They played 6 games. She played on both of the two teams three times each. It was a blast. Kyle was hands down the best. He flipped and dove and rolled all over the dark, foggy room. She would expect nothing less from an ex-Special Forces guy. Korben was also pretty good at it.

Bill was awful, but that did not stop him from having fun. He was overly dramatic about everything. He was an actor after all. She often heard him letting out a battle cry or shouting stuff along the lines of "Die, You Fiend!" Once he got shot right in front of her. He pretended to die dramatically, saying, "forgive me, Teresa, I have failed you!" She just laughed and helped him back up to his feet.

Pretty soon, everyone was being dramatic. They figured out it was much more fun that way. Bill had set the example. His team elected him as team captain. Before the last game he gave an inspirational speech to the group of comrades. Teresa had to sit down on the ground she was laughing so hard.

After they finished, Teresa decided she didn't want to go to a fancy place for dinner. She asked the producers how long they had the Fun Zone the laser tag arena was in for. Apparently they had booked it for the rest of the day. Teresa ordered pizza for everyone. It was perfect.

At the end of the night she gave the rose to Bill. He had really impressed her today. She talked to him a lot more than she ever had before. He really was a great person to be around.

-SG-

For this rose ceremony Teresa only had to send home one person. She was already pretty sure who it was going to be. After talking to him at the cocktail party, she defiantly knew.

She sent home Tony. She hadn't been able to connect with him well enough. He looked pretty shocked. Why, she had no idea.

Now she was down to nine guys. Nine guys and seven weeks. The next four of those weeks included international travel. She was so excited.

**I could not figure out the best way to end this chapter, so it kind of just broke off, sorry about that. **

**Big stuff coming up!**

**Thanks for reading!**


	13. Chapter 13

**This is a long chapter. It is long because I am getting surgery on my mouth tomorrow and I will be a lump for the next few days. I didn't know where to cut this off, so it's just long (by my standards at least).**

**I know some of you reading this are Australian. I have never been to Australia. I'm not sure exactly what it's like, so please forgive me if I screw up. All I know is I don't like Musk Lifesavers or Vegemite. I have heard you all do. Please feel free to correct me.**

**I hope you like this chapter. The second half kind of wrote itself, I've always laughed at authors who say that, but now I understand. **

**Patrick is getting a one on one date soon, I promise!**

**Well, here it is!**

**I own nothing.**

-SG—SG-

Chris came to talk to everyone the morning after the rose ceremony and told them to pack their bags. Tomorrow they would be going to Australia.

Teresa was so excited. She really hadn't ever been out of the country before, unless she counted her quick trip to Mexico on police business.

Teresa and the guys all sat around and listened to Brandon describe his past trips to the country. The biggest issue is the time change, he told them. Luckily the producers said they would have a day and a half to get used to it before the dates started.

Teresa looked at the clock. She had to go meet Chris and the producers to plan the Australia dates out.

"Sorry guys, I'll see you later." She said.

A chorus of protests rose from the guys as she stood. Teresa smiled.

-SG-

Australia was amazing. Everything about it so far was fantastic. The hotel they were staying at in Sydney was fantastic; the accents were fantastic; the guys she was spending time with were fantastic.

The first date she went on was with Jack to the infamous Australia Zoo over in Queensland. The zoo was everything she thought it would be. They got to feed kangaroos and wallabys. They saw Tigers swimming from an underwater viewing area. They witnessed a crocodile feeding.

Jack, however, was not what she expected, and unfortunately not in a good way. He was funny, sure, but she found out as she talked with him throughout the date that he was extremely cynical. It made him difficult to be with. Why she couldn't see it before she had no idea. He also told her he'd want to stay in Vegas, and she was not going to move there for anything. She wished him the best of luck and sent him home.

Teresa really hoped he was the last person she's misjudged.

-SG-

Teresa walked to the beach with Bill, Kyle, Korben, Boyd, Brandon, Patrick, and Zach. Today they would be learning how to surf.

Teresa had always wanted to learn how to surf. She knew it took a lot of practice to get really good, but this was a start.

The instructor taught them all the basics and safety information on land first. They learned about riptides and marine life. They learned how to paddle. They learned how to push themselves up. Everything was taught on dry land.

Teresa suspected Brandon already knew how to surf. The instructor paid him several approving comments while making his rounds, inspecting technique.

The other's however, seemed to be as new to this as she was. This gave her some comfort.

Eventually, the group moved to the water. The producers had made sure that the small beach was closed off to everyone but them and several instructors and lifeguards. It was really nice to be alone with the guys.

Teresa had the first go at a wave. They guys watched as she managed to barely stand up on the board before flying off the thing.

Luckily, the other guys didn't have much luck either the first time. Patrick and Bill didn't even want to try to stand. Only Brandon stayed on on his first go.

"You knew how to surf before today!" she told him as the group made their way up to the tent for lunch.

Brandon smiled. "I lived in Hawaii for a year. I wasn't going to pass up the opportunity."

"I wouldn't have missed the chance either!" she replied.

Teresa was a little sad that they couldn't see the ocean from the tent. They could still hear it, though, so that was nice.

Lunch included sandwiches, lemonade, fruits, and crackers with something called vegemite.

Teresa found our very quickly that she did not like vegemite. The local Aussies seemed to love it though. The instructors ended up eating most of it.

After a while, Teresa noticed that someone was missing from the group. When she asked around, she found out that Patrick had decided to go back down to the beach to try again on his own.

She frowned. Maybe she was being a little vain, but she thought the date was supposed to be about her. She really didn't care if the man was good at surfing or not. Really, she didn't. So why did he decide to go back down to the beach himself to practice? Curiosity got the better of her, and she started toward the beach.

-SG-

Teresa wasn't sure what she was expecting to see, but it certainly wasn't Patrick Jane up on the board riding a wave like he'd been doing it for years.

He was good. Really good.

She didn't have to watch long to realize he was even better at surfing than Brandon. It begged the question of why he acted like he really wasn't comfortable with surfing before. Teresa made a mental note to ask him about it later and turned back towards the tent. As much as she would love to watch Patrick surf, she decided it would be best to be getting back to the other guys.

When Patrick reappeared in the tent ten minutes later, Brandon immediately teased him. Teresa wasn't surprised. Brandon wasn't a mean person, but he did enjoy giving people a hard time.

"Hey man, how'd it go? Did you manage to stand up this time?"

Patrick took it in stride. "I did, as a matter of fact."

Brandon smiled and held his hand up for a high-five. "Alright, man!"

Patrick smiled back slightly and returned the high-five. "Thanks, I guess."

Teresa smirked and Patrick winked at her. So he'd seen her.

Of course he had.

-SG-

Patrick was lying down on a couch in the main living space of the hotel suite the guys were staying in. Right now, Teresa was at the Sydney Opera House with Jordan the Cruise Ship Singer. Patrick had been lying there since they left two hours ago, trying to figure out what the hell it was he was feeling.

When he came on this show, he hadn't at all expected to like Teresa. Not as much as he did. It was a little unsettling.

For the past 3 years he had been telling himself that it was time to move on. He convinced himself to start dating again.

Looking back, Patrick realized he was never really serious about it. He had subconsciously made sure that all of the women he had gone on dated with until this point were not women he'd _actually_ want to have a relationship with.

He'd been telling himself that he was trying. He had been telling _everyone_ he was trying. But deep down he still felt like he was betraying Angela's memory by dating. He was unable to let her go.

His thoughts strayed back to Teresa. This morning when she came to pick up Jordan, Patrick thought to himself how much he wished that he, Patrick Jane, was going on the one on one date, not Jordan. He had been jealous. _Jealous_. The realization felt like a kick to the stomach, knocking the wind out of him. Subconsciously, he put his hand in his pants pocket, feeling for the cool surface of his old wedding ring. He never admitted it to anyone, but he'd been carrying it around with him in his pocket from the moment he had taken it off.

He knew it probably wasn't the best idea to keep it with him, but letting it go seemed at the time to be impossible. He wanted to keep a piece of Angela with him. Because he loved her.

Patrick wrestled with the conflicting emotions running through his brain. He liked Teresa. A lot. His jealousy this morning proved that. He hadn't really thought about it until then, either. What he felt for her was different than any of the other women he'd dated in the past few years. It was serious. And it scared him a little.

Because he still loved Angela. He still had his ring in his pocket. And he _still_ wasn't sure if he was ready to let go. He told Teresa he was ready. He told himself he was ready. He almost believed it too. He wanted to be. But in reality, he wasn't completely sure.

This whole experience was forcing him into deciding whether or not it was time to move on. He was developing serious feelings for Teresa. He wanted to be close to her. He wanted her to trust him, to tell him things. And she was.

And he was opening up to her. He talked to her about things he never would talk to anyone back home about, and this was only after a few weeks. There was just something about her. She made him to tell her things. He trusted her.

Patrick thought back to how he had felt surfing a couple days ago. He hadn't been surfing since "it" had happened. The reason was simple. Angela had been the one who taught him. Before he lost his family, Patrick would surf all the time. Before Charlotte came, Angela would always go with him. Having a house in Malibu made it easy to go out often. He always liked the freedom of surfing. It was you and the ocean, and the ocean was in control.

Nobody knew how difficult this date had been for him. Going surfing again was a big deal. It wasn't something he was ready to do in front of a bunch of people, even though no one knew anything about it.

So he waited until everyone was busy eating. It took him about five minutes to finally convince himself to get up. The rush he got was incredible. It felt _good_. Really good. It was as if he had never stopped. For about fifteen minutes it was just him and the ocean once more.

Paddling out again, Patrick noticed a camera man watching him. Not only a camera man, but Teresa as well. He decided to ignore them. Focus on the water. After a few minutes, they disappeared from the hill, and he decided it was time to head in.

Patrick was really surprised that Teresa didn't say anything about his surfing when he got back to the tent, but he was glad she didn't. It was really personal.

He could not wait for the cocktail party. He hoped that talking to Teresa again would help clear his head.

Also, she always looked so nice in dresses.

That night Jordan walked in wearing a rose. The other men gathered around him and asked about the date, but Patrick couldn't face him. He was mentally exhausted. Instead, he went to his room, laid down on the bed, and fell asleep before midnight for the first time in years.

-SG-

At the cocktail party, Teresa walked over to Patrick, who was sitting in a chair by the fireplace, and asked him to go talk to her outside. She had a few questions for him.

She led him out onto the balcony and sat down in one of the chairs. Patrick did the same.

"So."

"So."

Teresa rolled her eyes. "Please, don't start that again!"

Patrick looked out at the city in front of him. "You want to know about the group date."

"Well, yeah," she said. "Why did you wait to go off on your own like that? How come you didn't just surf in front of everyone?"

It took him a couple seconds to answer. "I haven't been surfing since they died. Ang was the one who taught me. I wasn't sure I was ready for that yet. So I waited."

"Oh."

Teresa kicked herself. He just poured out a little of his heart to her and all she could say as 'oh'. What was the matter with her? "So… How did it feel?"

"It was… difficult… at first." Patrick took a deep breath. "Getting up was the hardest part... It felt like I was letting go of something. I felt guilty. That's always been really hard for me."

"Letting go? What do you mean you felt guilty?" Teresa asked, confused.

It took Patrick a few moments to answer her. "…Surfing was something we did together. Like I said, I haven't been out since she died. I felt like by surfing again, I was leaving her behind. Like I was… forgetting about her. I wasn't sure I was ready for that.

"But after that, after I got up, it felt… wonderful. I felt… _free_. I don't remember the last time I felt like that."

Teresa reached out and touched his knee and immediately he snapped his head around to look at her.  
He continued. "I don't want to forget her, Teresa, but that feeling was incredible. I felt happy."

Teresa smiled slightly, "Patrick, I doubt you will ever forget her. You can move on from something without forgetting it. I know. I've done it."

Patrick tilted his head to the side, silently asking her for an explanation.

Teresa opened her mouth to speak, but found she couldn't do it yet. She looked away.

She felt Patrick place his hand over the hand she had placed on his knee. Slowly, she brought her face back around to meet his eyes again.

"It's fine, Teresa. You can tell me when you are ready."

She turned her hand over and threaded her fingers through his. He squeezed her hand gently before standing, pulling her up with him.

"Thank you for telling me," she told him.

Patrick smiled softly. "No problem."

In that moment, Teresa wanted nothing more but to kiss him. But she knew it wasn't the time. He obviously still had stuff he had to work out in his head first. And for some reason she was willing to wait for him to do that.

Instead, she led him around the cameras back into the suite. Patrick let go of her hand as they crossed the threshold and she was greeted by Zach. She watched Patrick walk back to his chair by the fire.

"Teresa?" She looked up at Zach. He had obviously asked her something.

"I'm sorry, Zach. What did you say?"

"I asked if you wanted to talk outside a little."

Teresa nodded, and with one last glance in Patrick's direction, she made her way back outside.

-SG-

Teresa ended up sending home Kyle. It had been a really difficult decision, but in the end it came down to the fact that she'd talked to him least of anyone. And she'd admit it was partially her fault, she hadn't taken him on any one on one dates, but she really didn't feel all that close to him.

As she turned her light off, Teresa wondered what amazing place they would be traveling to next.

**Ta-da!**

**Take a guess on where they are going next!**

**I hope this is still enjoyable for all of you, I'm trying to make it so. **

**Congrats to the USA women's gymnastics team for winning gold! It was awesome! **

**As always, thank you for reading!**


	14. Chapter 14

**Hey everyone! I know, it's been a while. I'm sorry.**

**This month has been so freaking hectic. And when I went back to re-read everything I had written, I was really really unhappy with it. This chapter I rewrote 3 times and I still don't love it. Oh well. I thought it was about time that I posted something.**

**It was interesting to see how you Aussies reacted to the last chapter. Like I said, I have never been there, so it was all just guesses and what I could find online with very little research. I hope you all forgive me for my ignorance. **

**I also want to note that I have never been to Amsterdam either. Heck, I've never been out of the United States! I really want to though.**

**Thanks to the-wayward-painter for pulling me out of my seclusion, haha. **

**Well, here it is! Sorry again for keeping you waiting. I hope it's ok!**

**I own nothing.**

-SG - SG-

Teresa looked out over the city of Amsterdam. She could see lights from the red light district in the distance. Several of the guys joked about going there at some point while they were here, but she shut them up with one look.

Amsterdam was beautiful. The building they were staying in was older than the United States of America. It was impressive to say the least.

Before today, Teresa thought Amsterdam was a kind of dirty place, an assumption that she now saw was very _very_ wrong. She was so excited to be here with the guys.

In Amsterdam she had two one on one dates and a group date. The one on one dates were going to Brandon and Patrick. The rest of the guys were on the group one.

She could not wait.

-SG-

Teresa waited outside the building for Brandon. She could not believe she hadn't brought him on a date yet! She always thought they had a good connection.

She took Brandon to a contemporary art museum first. Teresa had never been to a museum of the kind, and it was very interesting to her. One of the pieces was a spaceman staring at a statue of the Buddha. "What is this supposed to mean?" Teresa thought out loud.

Brandon laughed. "I'm not sure, but it does make you think, I guess." They both stood watching the statue for a few more minutes, neither moving.

Suddenly, Brandon laughed. Teresa looked at him, confused. He shook his head. "You do realize that we've been staring at this thing for like, ten minutes, right? Maybe that was the point. Maybe the artist just wanted us to look at it, trying to figure out what it means."

Teresa smiled. "So the purpose is to make us look at it, trying to find meaning that's not even there?"

"Well, if it is, then it worked!"

"We will have to ask the artist one of these days."

They both laughed and moved on to the next piece.

After the art museum, Brandon and Teresa when to a restaurant by one of the canals called Bloesem. It was really nice.

Brandon surprised her when he passed on champagne. Apparently he didn't drink.

The rest of the night went fantastically well. Brandon was funny, charming, and sweet. Teresa loved hanging out with him, and she told him that. He teased her about not inviting him on a one on one date before this.

He kissed her at the end of the night. It made her incredibly happy. She gave him a rose.

-SG-

Teresa woke up feeling extremely nervous for her date with Patrick. Sure, she'd been on a date with him before, but she didn't really count it. With Kevin around, it had been too awkward to be considered a date.

She was, however, encouraged by their conversation at the last rose ceremony. She felt like she had been seeing the real Patrick Jane, a Patrick Jane without the mask she knew he usually wore.

Teresa was extremely glad he had opened up to her. It didn't seem like something he did very often.

She looked at the clock. It was time.

-SG-

Patrick looked at his reflection in the mirror. Teresa had told him on the date card to wear something casual, which was why he was wearing jeans and a button up shirt instead of a 3-piece suit. He wasn't used to dressing like this.

Patrick looked at the clock. It was 9:55 am. The date was at ten. Patrick was already out in the living space before he realized he had forgotten to put his ring in his pocket. He stopped, torn between going back for it and leaving it in his room. This would be the first one on one date he's been on since it happened that was with someone he found himself actually caring about. It felt wrong to bring his ring on this date, but he hadn't been without it before.

"You ok, man?"

Jane looked up to see Bill watching him. "Yeah. Why wouldn't I be?"

"You've just been staring into space for the last 30 seconds."

Just then there was a knock on the door. Patrick looked at the door than back to Bill.

Bill nodded at the door, silently telling Patrick to open it. Patrick knew it was Teresa. Too late to go back for his ring now.

-SG-

Teresa stood outside the door waiting for Patrick. Seriously, why was she so nervous for this date but not any of the others? It didn't make any sense. It also didn't help that the camera crew was crowding her.

When Patrick opened the door her jaw dropped a little. He was wearing jeans!

"You're wearing jeans!"

Patrick smiled. "Well, hello to you too! And you told me to wear something casual."

"Sorry. Hi, Patrick. I guess I'm just not used to you in jeans."

"Or you just didn't think I'd listen."

Teresa smiled. "That too."

Patrick motioned out to the hallway. "Shall we?"

-SG-

Teresa and Patrick were lying on their backs in Vondelpark watching the clouds float by.

They had been on a scavenger hunt thought the city. It was beautiful. They rode bikes almost everywhere. Seeing a casual Patrick Jane had taken some getting used to, but she liked the look a lot on him. There really hadn't been a good reason for why she told him to wear something casual, other than being curious.

Teresa could not remember the last time she smiled so much. Patrick was constantly teasing her about anything and everything. She didn't let him off the hook though, she did her best to dish it right back at him. Unfortunately, Patrick seemed to be a master at comebacks. Their banter usually ended with him getting a swat on the arm while she tried to hide her blush. He seemed to enjoy that.

-SG-

Patrick decided he loved to make her blush. Watching her blush gave him a warm feeling inside. Teresa Lisbon hardly ever lost composure, so it was a challenge for him. He had to admit to himself, though, he was getting pretty good at it.

She was attracted to him. He could tell. But he could also tell she was attracted to several of the other men as well. Men who he found himself beginning to dislike. Greatly.

No matter how much he tried to deny it to himself, he was falling for her. This smart, compassionate woman with a take-no-prisoners attitude. He didn't deserve her. She was so much better than him. The broken con man.

"I haven't done this since I was a kid." Patrick lifted his head to look at her. She was still staring up at the sky.

"Yeah?"

Teresa nodded. "Before mom died."

Patrick let his head fall back on the grass again. "I haven't done this since Red John."

He felt her hand brush against his and he took it, threading his fingers though hers. It felt nice.

-SG-

Teresa liked the feeling of his hand in hers, as cliché as that sounded. It felt good. It made her think about what it would be like to actually be with him.

It was still a little strange to think about how obviously in love he had been with his late wife. Teresa didn't normally associate loving husbands with showmen but she made an exception for Patrick. He didn't seem like the kind of person who liked being single. It was like he needed to take care of someone.

Teresa defiantly wasn't used to someone taking care of her. She'd been taking care of herself for a very long time now. Honestly, she didn't think she needed someone to take look after her. She's a cop. If her relationship with Patrick went anywhere, that aspect of his personality would be extremely difficult to get used to. But then who knew if it would work out like that.

Teresa jumped when Patrick shouted, breaking the peaceful silence. "Look! Frog!"

"Patrick!" Her hand went to her heart as she tried to calm it.

Patrick just chuckled, pointing up at the clouds. "See! Right there."

She looked where he was pointing and saw a cloud with a vague resemblance to a frog. "I think it looks like a hamster," she told him.

"What cloud are you looking at?"

"Same one you are, and I think it looks like a hamster!"

"Well maybe it does now, but before it looked like a frog."

"Sure it did."

"Yes. It did."

Teresa looked over to see Patrick smiling softly at her. She couldn't help but smile back.

"What are you thinking about?" she asked him.

Patrick rested his head back on the grass. "I was thinking… love is strange."

Teresa sat up and looked at him, wondering what exactly he meant by that, hoping he would elaborate.

He didn't.

"Also, I was thinking about a sandwich." He stood up quickly, pulling her up with him. "Let's get something to eat!"

-SG-

They ended up picking up some sandwiches, strawberries, and cookies before going back to the park to have a picnic. They mostly people watched, coming up with backstories for the people around them. It was really nice. Patrick would let her have a go before giving his theory, which usually sounded plausible when he explained why.

She wondered what it would be like working with him on a police investigation. He was an excellent profiler. This prompted another thought.

"Why did you stay with the police?"

Patrick looked at her, puzzled. "What do you mean?"

"You didn't have to stay with the police after Red John died. You got your closure. Why did you stay?"

Patrick put his sandwich down on a napkin beside him before staring at a nearby tree.

He took a deep breath and looked back at her. "I had nothing else to do."

Teresa put her sandwich down as well and met his eyes. He continued. "I mean, I didn't go to high school, no way I'm going back into show business… It's all I _can_ do."

"So you didn't stay because you like helping people, you stayed because you had nowhere to go?"

He cocked his head to the side. "Well, no. I'm not going to lie. It is nice to help, it's a good job and I enjoy it, but you have to remember I got in this profession to get revenge, not to help people. I'm not the good person you are, Teresa. But like you said, when it was all over, I had nowhere to go."

Teresa stared at him, trying to make sense of what he was saying. "Do you wish there was something else for you to do with your time than help solve crime? Do you want another way of using your skills?"

Patrick shook his head and looked back at the tree. "No. I'm just saying I wish there was something else for me besides that. I… I like it. Really. But it is literally all I have to do. It's my life at this point, and I wish I had more than just my job to live for."

Teresa smiled and looked down at her knees. In a way, she knew exactly how he felt. The difference was she loved her job so much she didn't mind. At least, she thought she didn't. Now she wasn't so sure.

-SG-

Teresa couldn't help but feel a little disappointed when Patrick had given her a kiss on the cheek before he said goodbye. She had been hoping for something a little more than that.

Normally she would have taken the initiative by now, but she knew he was still trying to sort everything out in his mind. The man had been through hell and back and was still trying to recover from that. No, a kiss between them would have to start with him. But how long was she willing to wait?

Teresa knew it may have been a bad idea keeping Patrick around for this long. Who knew if he would ever be able to fully move on? But she still couldn't help but think of all the progress he's made. He was opening up to her.

At any rate, she loved spending time with him. Teresa hoped he enjoyed their time together as much as she did.

She was pretty sure he did, but he never really said.

Teresa got ready for bed, contemplating everything that had happened that day.

When she got in bed her hand drifted up to her cheek as sleep finally overtook her.

-SG-SG-

**I read John Green's The Fault in Our Stars over the summer and I really want to go to Amsterdam now.**

**I still have a ton of events planned for Amsterdam; it's going to be a ride!**

**Thanks for sticking with me and thanks for reviewing! You are amazing!**


	15. Chapter 15

**Hey everyone! **

**Here's the next chapter for you! I know, the group date is stereotypical, but hey! Americans are suckers for stereotypes. **

**Thank you to fightsoftly for proof-reading this for me! You are wonderful! If we missed any mistakes it's now both of our faults. HOORAY! **

**This chapter is a little longer.**

**Not too much longer, though, sorry.**

**I own nothing.**

-SG-SG-

The next day, Teresa went on a group date to a place that hand-made wooden shoes. They all got a pair and could paint them any way they liked.

Teresa didn't even want to think about which two of these guys she would have to send home. She really liked all of them. It would be a hard decision.

She decided to talk to each of them one on one while they were there.

She found out all of them were willing to move to Sacramento. Everyone except Korben. That made sense though, Korben was in the military. He didn't always have a choice on where he could live.

The thought made her sad. Teresa wanted to stay in Sacramento. She had a good job with a good team. She loved it.

No, she wasn't going to move. Not a chance. As much as she liked him, and she did, she really liked him, Teresa would have to send Korben home.

But who else?

She hoped she would get more clarity at the cocktail party.

-SG-

Patrick noticed very early on during the cocktail party that everyone seemed to be having a good time except Teresa.

He frowned. He didn't like seeing Teresa upset.

With a closer look, he could see she wasn't really upset, more confused. Then he understood; she had to send two of them home tonight.

Patrick couldn't help feeling relived he already had a rose. He didn't want to leave.

-SG-

Teresa looked up from the couch she was sitting on to see Brandon standing in front of her with a glass of water.

"You ok?" he asked.

Teresa shook her head. "I don't know what to do, Brandon!"

"Teresa," he sat next to her and put a hand on her knee, "one thing I've noticed about you is you care a lot about other people. But this," he motioned around with his hands, "this is for you. You have to make the best decision for you, and you alone."

"I know that, Brandon. It's just hard."

Brandon smiled at her and took a sip of water. This sparked another question.

"So, why don't you drink?"

Brandon spit out some of his water at the question. "What?"

"Why don't you drink?"

Brandon looked away. "Is it really important?"

Teresa was taken aback by the sudden change in his behavior. "I don't know, is it?"

Brandon sat and stared at his knees and Teresa felt a rock hitting the bottom of her stomach.

"I…I…" Brandon stuttered, "When I found out my wife was cheating on me… I… I took it pretty hard."

"You're an alcoholic."

"Was! I was! I got help!"

Teresa looked away shaking her head. Brandon was an alcoholic. She could not believe this. "And what if something happens to me? I have a dangerous job. Can you guarantee that you wouldn't start drinking again?"

"Teresa-"

"I didn't think so."

-SG-

Patrick watched Teresa stomp away from her spot on the couch next to Brandon. Obviously something he had said upset her.

Teresa walked straight over to Chris, who was talking to one of the producers.

Whatever she said to him surprised him, and he led her out of the room.

Patrick saw that he wasn't the only one how saw this. The whole room had frozen. All of the men were staring at the door Chris and Teresa had left through. Everyone, that is, except for Brandon, who was looking at the floor.

-SG-

"Am I allowed to take a rose away from someone who went on a one-on-one date with me?"

Teresa and Chris were standing in the decision room next to a tray of roses.

"Teresa, this show is for you. We make guidelines to help you but you could do whatever you want."

"Ok."

"Do you want me to leave you to make your final decision?"

She shook her head. "No. I know what I want to do. But I'm going to need another rose."

-SG-

The men lined up on the little platforms. Chris told them that Teresa had made her decision.

She came out and Patrick could tell she was upset. She was very good at hiding it, but he could see it in her eyes.

She gave out roses one by one. Boyd. Bill. Jordan. Zach.

Zach looked surprised. Everyone did. Two men were supposed to be going home.

Then Teresa asked Brandon to come down. Everyone looked around at each other, confused.

When she asked for Brandon to give his rose back, Patrick saw the man's shoulders drop. He took it off and gave it to her. She placed it on the tray.

"You shouldn't have kept something like that from me."

Patrick didn't know what Brandon had kept from Teresa, but whatever it was, it was serious.

Korben and Brandon said their goodbyes and Teresa disappeared without a trace.

-SG-

Patrick stared at the ceiling above the couch in the living area of the men's hotel suite. He couldn't sleep. He doubted Teresa was getting any sleep either. He wondered…

He sat up, threw his shoes on, grabbed his coat and his room key, and slipped out the door.

-SG-

Teresa sat curled up on the couch in her suite. She was wearing sweatpants and a Chicago sweatshirt. She didn't really understand what was going on in the show she was watching, it was in Dutch, but she wasn't really paying attention anyway.

There was a faint knock on her door. She ignored it. The knock came again, a little louder this time.

Teresa groaned and got up, getting ready to curse out whomever had decided to disturb her at 2 in the morning.

She opened the door, but the shout caught in her throat. Patrick Jane was standing there in pajamas and a coat holding a vanilla ice cream cone in one hand and a chocolate cone in the other. He held out the chocolate one to her. "Sorry, they were out of Moose Tracks. You'll have to settle for regular chocolate."

Teresa didn't really know what to say, so she just took the cone from his hand and smiled. He took a lick from his ice cream and looked back at her. "You can eat it. I didn't poison it or anything."

She smacked him in the chest as she took a lick of her ice cream. She made the observation that Europe had better ice cream than America. Everything seemed to be better in Europe. Teresa stared out into space, her mind once again wondering back to Brandon.

"You ok?" asked Patrick after a minute or so.

Teresa looked up at him. "You're the mentalist, you tell me."

Patrick just smiled. "You want to go for a walk?"

"What, at two in the morning?"

"Why not? I wasn't going to get any sleep tonight, and I don't think you were either."

-SG-

Patrick watched as Teresa argued with herself in her head. He saw the moment she gave in.

"Fine. Hold this, let me get my shoes. And don't eat any!" She handed him her half-eaten ice cream and stepped back inside her room.

Patrick smiled to himself. He had half-expected for her to slam the door in his face. In fact, he was pretty sure she would have if he hadn't brought ice cream.

He chuckled to himself and waited for Teresa to return.

-SG-

Neither of them talked as they walked the streets of Amsterdam hand in hand. They had both finished their ice cream, but neither really wanted to head back yet.

Teresa could not believe it. She'd figured the reason Patrick had asked her to go on this walk was so that he could have the opportunity to ask her about the drama with Brandon. But to her surprise he hadn't spoken once. She was extremely grateful for that.

She remembered what he told her earlier. He only wanted her to tell him what she wanted to tell him. And she didn't really feel like sharing right now. Did she?

Teresa Lisbon was not one for opening up to people. She wasn't very good at it.

She glanced up at the man walking beside her. He seemed to be lost in his own thoughts.

Patrick was definitely not what she had pegged him to be at the start. She never expected to keep him around this long. But here he was, walking with her down the streets of Amsterdam because he knew she was upset. And even though he knew she was upset, he still didn't ask her about it.

Why hadn't he asked about it? When Cho was shot, he wouldn't leave her alone, so why was he so quiet now?

And then it hit her. He was waiting. He wanted to know, but he was waiting for her to want to tell him.

Because she did want to tell him. She did. And he knew that.

"What's that smile for?"

Teresa looked back up at Patrick, who was staring at her looking amused.

"I have you all figured out."

"Oh, really?"

"Yep."

Patrick stopped walking look at her. "Enlighten me."

"The real reason you wanted to go on this walk was to find out why I sent Brandon home. You knew if you just asked I wouldn't tell you anything so instead you come to my room in the middle of the night with ice cream and offered to go on a walk to make me feel more at ease. You knew that eventually I would end up telling you because you know that I really do want to tell you I just have trouble opening up."

Patrick's face fells slightly as Teresa spoke. "You really think I did all this because I want to know about Brandon?"

"Uh, yeah. You nose your way into everything else."

"Teresa, I don't give a damn about Brandon. I wanted to go on a walk with you because I like spending time with you and I brought you ice cream because I knew it helped you feel better, and you, my dear, were not doing well after the rose ceremony."

Teresa just stared back at him. "You are telling me that you have no interest whatsoever in why I sent Brandon home."

Patrick rocked his head back and forth. "Well, I will admit that I am interested, but what I'm saying is I didn't show up at your room with ice cream or invite you to go on a walk because of _that_. You don't _have_ to tell me, Teresa."

_But I want to_, she thought.

Teresa looked around for a bench and found one over by the canal. She led them over to it and they sat down facing each other.

"You already know I lost my mother-"

"Teresa-"

"It's ok, I want to tell you." Patrick nodded and she continued. "She was killed by a drunk driver when I was twelve. My dad didn't take it very well. He would come home every night and drink. I was the one who had to take care of my brothers. Eventually he… he killed himself."

Teresa turned to look at the water and took a second to compose herself a little. To her surprise Patrick didn't say anything. Instead he gave her hand a light squeeze. The corner of her mouth curled up for a moment as she stared straight ahead.

"Since then I've had a very low tolerance for drunks. Brandon told me that after his wife cheated on him he became an alcoholic. He's been sober for years now but I didn't want to have to deal with something like that ever again, so I sent him home."

When she glanced back at Patrick, he was looking at their hands, smiling slightly and shaking his head.

"What?"

"Oh, nothing. I'm just glad I had a full-on breakdown after it happened instead of turning into an alcoholic."

"Patrick."

"It was a joke, Teresa."

"Not a very funny joke."

"I know. I'm sorry."

-SG-

Patrick shifted so he was sitting right next to Teresa on the bench. He was surprised when she rested her head on his shoulder. He smiled and let go of her hand, putting his arm around her waist.

"You know," Patrick looked down at Teresa as she spoke, "If you had told me a year ago that I'd be here right now, I'd have laughed."

"At which part? Being on a dating show or outside in the middle of the night wearing pajamas in Amsterdam or…" he trailed off.

"All of it probably."

"Didn't one of your agents convince you to do this?"

"Yeah. Grace. She's a hopeless romantic. That's rare in our line of work."

"I seem to remember you having a soft spot for romance."

"I have a soft spot for Pride and Prejudice."

"Whatever you say."

Teresa pulled away slightly to look up at him. "Why did you decide to do this?"

"I told you, I wanted to cheer you up."

"No, I mean… _this_." She waved her hands around.

"You mean the show?"

"Yes."

Patrick shrugged. "Nancy." He said simply.

"Huh?"

He smiled. "Nancy runs a children's shelter in Oakland. I go down there a lot. She's one of the kindest people you will ever meet. The kids love her. Anyway. She's the one who convinced me to do this."

"You help out at a children's home?"

"Yeah."

-SG-

Teresa decided then and there that this man would never stop surprising her.

"How long have you been doing that?"

"A few years. I started going down there a little after Red John died. First time was to check in on a kid who was put there after a case. Her parents had been killed. After that I just kept going back."

"You like kids?"

He nodded. "I do… Children, unlike adults, are more likely to look at the bright side of things. They always have hope. It's… refreshing. Especially after hanging around sad, grumpy people all day."

Teresa rested her head on Patrick's shoulder again.

Patrick's plan had worked. She felt so much better than she had an hour ago. And sitting there, like that with Patrick was nice. It was peaceful.

That is, until they heard their names being shouted from behind.

Teresa turned and saw a camera man and one of the producers walking towards them. She groaned. _Way to ruin it, guys._

She felt Patrick's breath close to her ear.

"Let's go."

Before she could stop him, Patrick had grabbed her hand and pulled her up from the bench. Then they were running. The crew was chasing after them.

The crew was at a disadvantage, though; both Patrick and Teresa had experience in losing tails.

The two wove through the streets at full speed, laughing as they went. Teresa was surprised when she realized she was having fun.

Eventually Patrick came to a stop. Teresa didn't realize it at first and almost bowled him over. He caught her before that could happen, both of them laughing hysterically.

Their eyes met and suddenly nothing else existed.

Patrick moved a hand to her cheek and she was unable to look away.

And when their lips met for the first time, Teresa let her mind go blank.

-SG-SG-

**There you have it!**

**I hope the wait wasn't too bad.**

**Sorry if the end was not up to par, I rewrote it like, 12 times. **

**Thanks for reading!**


End file.
